Jaime Ordóñez Molina

Validación de escalas abreviadas de zarit para la medición de síndrome del cuidador primario del adulto mayor en Medellín

OBJECTIVE To determine which abbreviated Zarit Scale (ZS) better evaluates the burden of the caregiver of an elderly patient in Medellin, Colombia. DESIGN Validation study. SETTING Primary Care setting in the city of Medellin. PARTICIPANTS Primary caregiver of dependent elderly patients over 65 years old. PRINCIPAL MEASUREMENTS Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for the different abbreviated Zarit scales, plus performing a reliability analysis using the Cronbach Alpha coefficient. RESULTS The abbreviated scales obtained a sensitivity of between 36.84 and 81.58%, specificity between 95.99 and 100%, positive predictive values between 71.05 and 100%, and negative predictive values of between 91.64 and 97.42%. CONCLUSIONS The scale that better determined caregiver burden in Primary Care was the Bedard Screening scale, with a sensitivity of 81.58%, a specificity of 96.35% and positive and negative predictive values of 75.61% and 97.42%, respectively.