STATISTICAL reliability

Background: As with most of the chronic illnesses, the changes and consequences brought on by bipolar disorder (BD) are not exclusive to the patient and often spread to those around them, especially for direct caregivers of these patients. It is known that there is a significant emotional and physical toll among persons who coexist daily with those who suffer from this disorder.

Purpose: Little is known about how caregiving affects the quality of life (QoL) of older family carers and no dementia and age-specific QoL scale is available for use with this population. This study aimed to develop and validate a unique dementia caregiving- and age-specific tool - the 'Dementia Quality of Life Scale for Older Family Carers' (DQoL-OC). Methods: The scale items were identified in focus groups with older family carers in the UK. Content and face validity were evaluated by a panel of six experts.