- Ana M Gort: Unidad Sociosanitaria. Gestió de Serveis Sanitaris. Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova. Lleida. Spain. angor@gss.scs.es
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to validate the use of the Zarit scale for the identification and follow up of caregivers burden in palliative care.
PATIENTS AND METHOD: We used the Zarit scale and performed a semistructured interview (on admission and at 10 days) to 44 inpatients' carers.
RESULTS: We found that both the Zarit scale and the interview were strongly associated in the identification of caregivers burden (kappa = 0.879; p < 0.005). Significant improvement of caregivers burden at 10 days was seen (p < 0.005).
CONCLUSIONS: The Zarit scale is a useful tool for the identification and follow up of caregivers burden. Admission to a palliative care unit improves significantly the level of caregivers burden.