Dataset Information

Measuring the Work Impact of Caregiving for Individuals With Schizophrenia and/or Schizoaffective Disorder With the Caregiver Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ).

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The aim of this study was to test the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Caregiver Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) for employed caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia and/or schizoaffective disorder.

Methods

A cross-sectional web-based survey with test/retest and responsiveness test components was administered to informal caregivers. Using data from employed caregivers, psychometric tests were performed of the questionnaire's four at-work limitation scales and work absence score.

Results

Of 1142 eligible caregivers, 710 (62.2%) were employed. On the basis of the 4-week recall period, caregivers were limited in performing work tasks approximately between 20% and 30% of the time on average and absent a mean of 2 to 3 days. With few exceptions, the Caregiver WLQ demonstrated scale homogeneity, test/retest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness to change.

Conclusion

The Caregiver WLQ provides new information about the impact of caregiving on employment.

SUBMITTER: Lerner D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8507251 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Measuring the Work Impact of Caregiving for Individuals With Schizophrenia and/or Schizoaffective Disorder With the Caregiver Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ).

Lerner Debra D Benson Carmela C Chang Hong H Rogers William H WH Adler David D Lyson Mercedes C MC Parsons Susan K SK

Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 20171001 10

<h4>Objective</h4>The aim of this study was to test the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Caregiver Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) for employed caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia and/or schizoaffective disorder.<h4>Methods</h4>A cross-sectional web-based survey with test/retest and responsiveness test components was administered to informal caregivers. Using data from employed caregivers, psychometric tests were performed of the questionnaire's four at-work limitat ...[more]

PMID: 28777200

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Project description:The ability to mentalize (i.e., to form representations of mental states and processes of oneself and others) is often impaired in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Emotional awareness (EA) represents one aspect of affective mentalizing and can be assessed with the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS), but findings regarding individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders are inconsistent. The present study aimed at examining the usability and convergent validity of the LEAS in a sample of N = 130 stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. An adequacy rating was added to the conventional LEAS rating to account for distortions of content due to, for example, delusional thinking. Scores of the patient group were compared with those of a matched healthy control sample. Correlation with symptom clusters, a self-report measure of EA, a measure of synthetic metacognition (MAS-A-G), and an expert rating capturing EA from the psychodynamic perspective of psychic structure (OPD-LSIA) were examined. Regarding self-related emotional awareness, patients did not score lower than controls neither in terms of conventional LEAS nor in terms of adequacy. Regarding other-related emotional awareness, however, patients showed a reduced level of adequacy compared to controls whereas no such difference was found for conventional LEAS scores. Higher conventional LEAS scores were associated with fewer negative symptoms, and higher structural integration of self-perceptions measured by the OPD-LSIA. Higher adequacy of responses correlated with fewer symptoms of disorganization as well as excitement, higher scores of self-reflection on the MAS-A-G as well as self- and object-perception and internal and external communication as measured by the subscales of the OPD-LSIA. Findings suggest that the LEAS might not be sensitive enough to detect differences between mildly symptomatic patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders and healthy controls. However, LEAS ratings are still suitable to track intraindividual changes in EA over time. Observing the adequacy of patients' responses when using the LEAS may be a promising way to increase diagnostical utility and to identify patterns of formal and content-related alterations of mentalizing in this patient group. Methodological indications for future studies are discussed.

Project description:Background To compare estimated 10-year and 30-year cardiovascular risk in primary care patients with and without serious mental illness (SMI; bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder). Methods and Results All patients aged 18 to 75 years with a primary care visit in January 2016 to September 2018 were included and were grouped into those with and without SMI using diagnosis codes. Ten-year cardiovascular risk was estimated using atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease scores for patients aged 40 to 75 years without cardiovascular disease; 30-year cardiovascular risk was estimated using Framingham risk scores for patients aged 18 to 59 years without cardiovascular disease. Demographic, vital sign, medication, diagnosis, and health insurance data were collected from the electronic health record by a clinical decision support system. Descriptive statistics examined unadjusted differences, while general linear models examined differences for continuous variables and logistic regression models for categorical variables. Models were then adjusted for age, sex, race, ethnicity, and insurance type. A total of 11 333 patients with SMI and 579 924 patients without SMI were included. After covariate adjustment, 10-year cardiovascular risk was significantly higher in patients with SMI (mean, 9.44%; 95% CI, 9.29%-9.60%) compared with patients without SMI (mean, 7.99%; 95% CI, 7.97-8.02). Similarly, 30-year cardiovascular risk was significantly higher in those with SMI (25% of patients with SMI in the highest-risk group compared with 11% of patients without SMI; P<0.001). The individual cardiovascular risk factors contributing most to increased risk for those with SMI were elevated body mass index and smoking. Among SMI subtypes, patients with bipolar disorder had the highest 10-year cardiovascular risk, while patients with schizoaffective disorder had the highest 30-year cardiovascular risk. Conclusions The significantly increased cardiovascular risk associated with SMI is evident even in young adults. This suggests the importance of addressing uncontrolled major cardiovascular risk factors in those with SMI at as early an age as possible. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02451670.

Dataset Information

Measuring the Work Impact of Caregiving for Individuals With Schizophrenia and/or Schizoaffective Disorder With the Caregiver Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ).

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Measuring the Work Impact of Caregiving for Individuals With Schizophrenia and/or Schizoaffective Disorder With the Caregiver Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ).

Similar Datasets

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