Background: While it is widely acknowledged that family burden can be ameliorated with effective psycho-social interventions, how to measure family burden and define a valid cutoff to identify family caregivers in need of such interventions remains a key question. The purpose of the present study was to determine a statistically valid cutoff score for the Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS), using the cutoff scores of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) as the reference. Methods: The FBIS, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 were administered to a representative community sample of 327 family caregivers of schizophrenia patients. A FBIS cutoff score was determined using three different statistical methods: tree-based modeling, K-means clustering technique and linear regression. Contingency analysis was conducted to compare the FBIS cutoff with depression and anxiety scale scores. Results: Findings proposed a cutoff score of 23 for the FBIS, with sensitivity being 76% for PHQ-9 and 74% for GAD-7, specificity being 68% for PHQ-9 and 67% for GAD-7. Conclusion: This cutoff score would enable health care providers to assess family caregivers at risk and provide necessary interventions to improve their quality of life.
CITATION STYLE
Yu, Y., Liu, Z. W., Zhou, W., Zhao, M., Tang, B. W., & Xiao, S. Y. (2019). Determining a cutoff score for the family burden interview schedule using three statistical methods. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-019-0734-8
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