Development and validation of a short form psychometric tool assessing the caregiving Challenge of Living with Cystic Fibrosis (CLCF-SF) in a child

McCray, G., Hope, H. F., Glasscoe, C., Hill, J., Quittner, A., Southern, K. W. and Lancaster, G. A. (2023) Development and validation of a short form psychometric tool assessing the caregiving Challenge of Living with Cystic Fibrosis (CLCF-SF) in a child. Psychology & Health. ISSN 1476-8321 doi: 10.1080/08870446.2023.2231489

Abstract/Summary

Objective Caring for a child with cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rigorous daily commitment for caregivers and treatment burden is a major concern. We aimed to develop and validate a short form version of a 46-item tool assessing the Challenge of Living with Cystic Fibrosis (CLCF) for clinical or research use. Design A novel genetic algorithm based on ‘evolving’ a subset of items from a pre-specified set of criteria, was applied to optimise the tool, using data from 135 families. Main outcome measures Internal reliability and validity were assessed; the latter compared scores to validated tests of parental well-being, markers of treatment burden, and disease severity. Results The 15-item CLCF-SF demonstrated very good internal consistency [Cronbach’s alpha 0.82 (95%CI 0.78–0.87)]. Scores for convergent validity correlated with the Beck Depression Inventory (Rho = 0.48), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-State, Rho = 0.41; STAI-Trait, Rho = 0.43), Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire-Revised, lung function (Rho = −0.37), caregiver treatment management (r = 0.48) and child treatment management (r = 0.45), and discriminated between unwell and well children with CF (Mean Difference 5.5, 95%CI 2.5–8.5, p < 0.001), and recent or no hospital admission (MD 3.6, 95%CI 0.25–6.95, p = 0.039). Conclusion The CLCF-SF provides a robust 15-item tool for assessing the challenge of living with a child with CF.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/112597
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/08870446.2023.2231489
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Clinical Language Sciences
Uncontrolled Keywords	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Applied Psychology, General Medicine, General Chemistry
Publisher	Taylor & Francis
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