Resources for the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment based
Proactive and Personalised Primary Care of the Elderly
M.C.S.I.
Modified Caregiver Strain Index
Purpose : Quick screen for caregiver strain with long-term family caregivers
Admin time : 3 min.
User Friendly : Yes
Administered by : Self or Healthcare Professional
Content : 13-question tool that measures strain related to care provision. There is at least one item for each of the following
major domains: Financial, Physical, Psychological, Social, and Personal.
This instrument can be used to assess individuals of any age who have assumed the caregiving role for an older adult.
The Modified Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI) is a more recent version of the Caregiver Strain Index (CSI) developed in 1983. The MCSI was modified and developed in 2003 with a sample of 158 family caregivers providing assistance to older adults living in a community-based setting.
Scoring is 2 points for each ‘yes’ and 1 point for each ‘sometimes’ response.
The higher the score, the higher the level of caregiver strain
Author : Thornton M. and Travis S. (2003)
Copyright : Free to reproduce, post, download, and/or distribute, this material in its entirety only for not-for-profit educational purposes only, provided that The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University, College of Nursing is cited as the source. This material may be downloaded and/or distributed in electronic format, including PDA format. Available on the internet at www.hartfordign.org and/or www.ConsultGeriRN.org. E-mail notification of usage to: hartford.ign@nyu.edu
M.C.S.I.
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY:
The internal reliability coefficient is slightly higher (=.90) than the coefficient originally reported for the
CSI in 1983 (=.86).
Two-week retest data for one-third of the caregiving sample (n=53) was available and resulted in a test-retest reliability
coefficient of .88 (Thornton & Travis, 2003).
STRENGTHS:
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brief
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easy to use
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long-term family caregivers were not comfortable with the dichotomous choice on the original CSI. The modified instrument provides the ability to choose a middle category response best suited to some situations (Travis et al., 2003).
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clarifies and updates some of the items on the original instrument.
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effectively identifies families who may benefit from more in-depth assessment and follow-up.
LIMITATIONS:
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limited by lack of a corresponding subjective rating of caregiving impact
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caregiver strain scores are not categorized as low, moderate, or high, so professional judgment is needed to evaluate by total score the level of caregiver strain
This Tool is used in the assessment of Caregiver Stress
Back To : Caregiver Stress
Back To : Thorny Issues
This is one of several topics presented in the Thorny Issues sector of this toolkit