• Whitney Boling, David M Macrina, and John P Clancy.
• Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston, TX 77204-6015, USA. wboling@uh.edu
• Qual Life Res. 2003 Dec 1; 12 (8): 1119-26.

ObjectiveModify the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC) scale (Weitzner, Jacobsen et al. Qual Life Res 2000; 8: 55-63) as the Caregiver Quality of Life Cystic Fibrosis (CQOLCF) scale, validate it with cystic fibrosis (CF) family caregivers, and assess caregiver quality of life QOL with patient disease severity.MethodsFollowing modifications, 100 family caregivers were administered the CQOLCF. Construct validity was assessed by the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Pulmonary function scores and hospitalizations assessed relationship between caregiver QOL and patient disease severity.ResultsSplit-half reliability was 0.862 and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.909. As expected, there were relatively high correlations with the mental health (0.634) and emotional distress (-0.687); and low correlations with physical health (0.049). ANCOVA examined differences in the CQOLCF totals based on disease severity, controlling for age. Significant mean differences existed (days hospitalized F = 3.010, sig. = 0.022).DiscussionThe CQOLCF appears to be a valid, reliable, and internally consistent disease-specific scale with CF family caregivers. Future research recommendations include administering the CQOLCF to an increased study sample to explore item factor analysis.

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