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Measurement Properties of the 15-Item Singapore Caregiver Quality of Life Scale (SCQOLS-15) in Family Caregivers of Patients with Heart Diseases

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the measurement properties of the 15-item Singapore Caregiver Quality of Life Scale (SCQOLS-15) in family caregivers of patients with heart diseases.

Methods

The SCQOLS-15 survey was self-administered by family caregivers of patients with chronic heart diseases, at baseline and 1 week later. The criterion validity of SCQOLS-15 and its domain scores was assessed by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) with the Brief Assessment Scale for Caregivers (BASC), Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA), and their sub-scores. Known-group validity was assessed using the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class. Test-retest reliability was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results

Of the 327 caregivers included, 65% were adult children and 28% were spouses. The distribution of NYHA classes of the patients was I: 27%, II: 40%, III: 24%, and IV: 9%. There was a positive correlation between the SCQOLS-15 and BASC total scores (ρ = 0.7). SCQOLS-15 domain scores were also correlated with BASC and CRA sub-scores as per a priori hypotheses, with absolute values of ρ ranging from 0.4 to 0.6. The mean values of SCQOLS-15 total and all domain scores were lower among caregivers of patients with NYHA class III/IV compared to those of class I/II patients (each P < 0.05). Among 146 caregivers who completed the follow-up and self-rated a stable quality-of-life, ICCs for test-retest reliability of SCQOLS-15 total and all domain scores were ≥ 0.8.

Conclusion

The SCQOLS-15 is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the quality of life in caregivers of heart disease patients.

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Acknowledgements

Professional medical writing and editorial assistance was provided by Ravinuthula Sruthi Jagannathan from Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Singapore Clinical Research Institute, Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Mihir Gandhi

  2. Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

    Mihir Gandhi & Yin Bun Cheung

  3. Lien Centre for Palliative Care, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

    Mihir Gandhi, Irene Teo & Grace Yang

  4. Tampere Center for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research: Global Health Group, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Mihir Gandhi & Yin Bun Cheung

  5. Department of Cardiology, National Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Ru-San Tan

  6. Department of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre, Singapore, Singapore

    Shir Lynn Lim & Kai Lee Woo

  7. Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Shir Lynn Lim

  8. Pre-hospital and Emergency Research Center, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

    Shir Lynn Lim

  9. Division of Psychosocial Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Irene Teo

  10. Division of Supportive & Palliative Care, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Grace Yang

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  1. Mihir Gandhi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mihir Gandhi.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Funding

This work was supported by the Lien Centre for Palliative Care Research Award (LCPC-IN20-0002). The funding agreement ensured the authors’ independence in designing the study, interpreting the data, writing, and publishing the report.

Competing Interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. The data collection was performed by Ru-San Tan, Shir Lynn Lim, and Kai Lee Woo. The data analysis was performed by Mihir Gandhi. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Mihir Gandhi and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethics Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the SingHealth Central Institution Review Board (Ref. 2020/2087).

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Supplementary Information

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Supplementary file2 (DOCX 43 KB)

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Gandhi, M., Tan, RS., Lim, S.L. et al. Measurement Properties of the 15-Item Singapore Caregiver Quality of Life Scale (SCQOLS-15) in Family Caregivers of Patients with Heart Diseases. Patient 16, 485–495 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-023-00634-x

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