title: Validation of the Italian Version of the Caregiver Abuse Screen among Family Caregivers of Older People with Alzheimer's Disease.
abstract: Introduction. Elder abuse is often a hidden phenomenon and, in many cases, screening practices are difficult to implement among older people with dementia. The Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE) is a useful tool which is administered to family caregivers for detecting their potential abusive behavior.Objectives. To validate the Italian version of the CASE tool in the context of family caregiving of older people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to identify risk factors for elder abuse in Italy.Methods. The CASE test was administered to 438 caregivers, recruited in the Up-Tech study. Validity and reliability were evaluated using Spearman's correlation coefficients, principal-component analysis, and Cronbach's alphas. The association between the CASE and other variables potentially associated with elder abuse was also analyzed.Results. The factor analysis suggested the presence of a single factor, with a strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). CASE score was strongly correlated with well-known risk factors of abuse. At multivariate level, main factors associated with CASE total score were caregiver burden and AD-related behavioral disturbances.Conclusions. The Italian version of the CASE is a reliable and consistent screening tool for tackling the risk of being or becoming perpetrators of abuse by family caregivers of people with AD.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Socioeconomic Research on Ageing, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Gabriella
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4428-3749
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Melchiorre
authors.affiliation: Scientific Direction, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Rosa
authors.affiliation: Centre for Socioeconomic Research on Ageing, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy; Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Linnaeus University, 39182 Kalmar, Sweden.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barbabella
authors.affiliation: Epidemiological Observatory, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barbini
authors.affiliation: Scientific Direction, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizia
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4051-1289
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lattanzio
authors.affiliation: Scientific Direction, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chiatti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy