Resources for the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment based
Proactive and Personalised Primary Care of the Elderly
Z.B.I.
Zarit Burden Interview
Purpose : Assess the level of subjective feelings of burden experienced by caregivers of older persons with dementia and other types of disability
Admin time : 5 min.
User Friendly : Yes
Administered by : Clinician or Self
Content : Questions about the impact of the patient’s disabilities on the caregiver's life.
For each item, caregivers indicate how often they have felt that way: never, rarely, sometimes, quite frequently, or nearly always.
Items have proven to be relevant and acceptable to caregivers from many different countries and cultures.
Author : Original: Zarit SH, Reever KE, Bach‐Peterson J. Relatives of the impaired elderly: correlates of feelings of
burden. The Gerontologist 1980; 20:649
Copyright :
Copyrighted, but available for free use by clinicians and for non-funded academic research.
For permission to use contact : ePROVIDE by Mapi Research Trust
ZBI-12 copyright notice: "ZBI © Steven H. Zarit and Judy M. Zarit, 1980-2008. All rights reserved." //
ZBI-22 copyright notice: "Copyright 1983, 1990, Steven H. Zarit and Judy M. Zarit"
Zarit Burden Interview - Revised (22 items)
Zarit Burden Interview - Short (12 items)
Zarit Burden Interview - Screen (4 items)
Gerontologic health scientific literature identifies a number of scales to measure caregiver burden.
The Zarit Scale of Caregiver Burden or the Zarit Burden Interview is the most widely used instrument.
Originally designed and tested in 1980 containing 29 items, it was reduced to 22 questions. Subsequent adaptation of the scale made it particularly attractive.
The research reported in The Gerontologist (2001, Vol 41, No. 5, 652-657) that a short 12-item version and 4-item screening version were found to correlate well with the full 22-item version. The short and simple 4-item screen, proven to be valid and reliable for its designated use, is self-administered by the caregiver.
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