• Sara Gherardini, Elena Porri, Matilde Dugini, Valentina Santoro, and Matteo Paci.
• Department of Allied Health Professions, Azienda USL Toscana Centro, Florence, Italy.
• Minerva Med. 2024 Sep 18.

BackgroundTo translate and cross-culturally adapt the Parkinson's Disease Caregiver Burden questionnaire (PDBC) into Italian language and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version in terms of test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity.MethodsThe PDBC-I was developed by forward-backward translation to establish correspondence with the original English latest version. Psychometric properties were estimated in a sample of primary caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's disease. Reliability testing included internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), test-retest reliability (ICC), the standard error of measurement (SEM) and the minimal detectable change (MDC), also expressed as percentage (MDC%). Validity was estimated by comparing the PDBC -I to the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) (Pearson correlation coefficient).ResultsThe questionnaire was administered to 65 caregivers, showing internal consistency of 0.934. ICC value was 0.811 (95% CI 0.708-0.880) for test-retest reliability, and the SEM and the MDC (MDC%) were 5.04 and 13.97 (38.21%), respectively. Low to moderate correlation with all other investigated scales (CBI: r=0.693; SF-36 physical score: r=-0.309; SF-36 mental score: r=-0.588; SF36 total score: -0.470) were found.ConclusionsDespite the PDCB-I holds acceptable psychometric properties to be used in clinical settings of Italian-speaking Countries as a measure of caregiver burden in caregivers of individuals with Parkinson Disease, the caregiver might require the support of a clinician to finalize the compilation of the questionnaire.

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