Validity and Reliability of the Oral Health-related Caregiver Burden Index (OHBI)

Objectives: This study developed the Oral Health-related Caregiver Burden Index (OHBI), which contains 9 questions with 5 response options each. As a secondary objective, we aimed to clarify the relationship between oral health-related caregiver burden and general caregiver burden.
Methods: Between January 2016 and February 2016, 155 participants enrolled in the study. We conducted two surveys to examine the validity and reliability of the scale. Survey 1 was conducted for item selection, to assess construct validity, to determine the presence or absence of a burden cut-off score for this scale using a single-item self-report questionnaire, to examine internal consistency, and to determine the relationship between oral health-related caregiver burden and general caregiver burden (BIC-11). Survey 2 was conducted to examine reliability of the OHBI.
Results: Survey 1 was completed by 102 caregivers, of whom 58 (56.9%) were female and 44 (43.1%) were male. Survey 2 was completed by 40 caregivers, of whom 22 (55.0%) were female and 18 (45.0%) were male. Factor analysis revealed four factors. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.691–0.866. OHBI scores were significantly associated with scores for each factor of the BIC-11. OHBI had a cut-off score of 10 (AUC = 0.881, sensitivity = 0.828, specificity = 0.744). A good – poor analysis revealed significant differences for discriminant validity. ICC, an indicator of reliability, was 0.449–0.842. There was a significant relationship between caregiver burden and oral health-related caregiver burden according to binomial logistic regression analysis (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: We developed the OHBI as a multidimensional care burden scale, which comprises 9 items covering 5 domains. Further, we verified the relationship between general caregiver burden and oral health-related caregiver burden.