Validation of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory in Chilean older people.

OBJECTIVE: Currently in Chile there is a lack of validated tools for measuring anxiety in the elderly population. Considering this, the purpose of this study was to validate the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in the country. METHOD: An analysis of the psychometric properties of the GAI was carried out, using a non-clinical sample of 301 older adults in the Metropolitan and Valparaíso regions of Chile. Older people were asked about anxiety, rumination, depression, well-being and sociodemographic data. RESULTS: An excellent internal reliability was obtained with a Cronbach score of 0.931. An adequate convergent validity was observed with the Depression scales (CES-D) (Rho = 0.549, p < .01), Rumination (RSS) (Rho = 0.618; p < 0.01) and Experiential avoiding (Rho = 0.485; p < 0.01). On the other hand, the discriminant validity of the psychological well-being scale presented a negative correlation of Rho = -0.699 (p < 0.01). Finally, and Exploratory Factor Analysis was made, revealing a one-dimensional model of the instrument. CONCLUSION: The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory has very good psychometric properties measuring anxiety in elderly people, being an adequate instrument for the screening of anxiety on this population.

Predictors of unmet needs in Chilean older people with dementia: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The needs of people with dementia (PWD) have not been assessed in any Latin American country. Several European countries have already related unmet needs with quality of life, caregiver's age, burden, stress, anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to identify met and unmet needs in Chilean older adults with dementia and to determine if those needs were associated with PWD's, their informal caregivers' and social factors. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study. One-hundred and sixty-six informal caregivers and their care recipients were interviewed. PWD was assessed about cognitive function and their caregivers answered instruments about PWD's needs, functional status and behavioral and psychological symptoms. Caregiver's burden, depression, anxiety and social support were also evaluated. A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine predictors of unmet needs in Chilean PWD. RESULTS: The most frequent met needs were "Looking after home" (81.3%%), "Food" (78.9%) and "Selfcare" (75.3%). Most common unmet needs were "Daily living activities" (39.2%), "Company" (36.1%), and "Memory" (34.9%). Caregivers' lower age was correlated to a higher number of PWD's unmet needs (rs = -.216; p < 0.005). Higher PWD's dependence was associated with higher number of unmet needs (rs = .177; p < 0.05). The best predictors of unmet needs were caregivers' low level of social support, high burden, young age and high level of anxiety. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to address psychological and social needs of PWD. The fact that PWD's unmet needs were associated mostly with caregivers' factors, highlights the importance of considering both, the PWD and their informal caregivers as targets of institutional support. It is expected that recently launched national public policies decrease PWD's unmet needs by the provision of new services for them and their informal caregivers.

Validation of the Spanish-language Cardiff Anomalous Perception Scale.

The Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS) is a psychometric measure of hallucinatory experience. It has been widely used in English and used in initial studies in Spanish but a full validation study has not yet been published. We report a validation study of the Spanish-language CAPS, conducted in both Spain and Colombia to cover both European and Latin American Spanish. The Spanish-language version of the CAPS was produced through back translation with slight modifications made for local dialects. In Spain, 329 non-clinical participants completed the CAPS along with 40 patients with psychosis. In Colombia, 190 non-clinical participants completed the CAPS along with 21 patients with psychosis. Participants completed other psychometric scales measuring psychosis-like experience to additionally test convergent and divergent validity. The Spanish-language CAPS was found to have good internal reliability. Test-retest reliability was slightly below the cut-off, although could only be tested in the Spanish non-clinical sample. The scale showed solid construct validity and a principal components analysis broadly replicated previously reported three component factor structures for the CAPS.

Afrontamiento, apoyo social y depresión en cuidadores informales y su relación con necesidades no cubiertas de personas con demencia / Coping, social support and depression in informal caregivers and its relationship with unmet needs of people with dementia

ANTECEDENTES: El rol del cuidador de personas con demencia conlleva múltiples desafíos para el bienestar de los cuidadores y de quienes son cuidados. Es por esto que el objetivo de este estudio fue describir los mecanismos de afrontamiento, el apoyo social y los síntomas depresivos y ansiosos en cuidadores informales y establecer su relación con necesidades no cubiertas de personas con demencia. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal con una muestra por conveniencia de 166 diadas de cuidadores informales y personas con demencia. Se evaluaron el deterioro cognitivo y las necesidades no cubiertas de las personas con demencia, y el afrontamiento, el apoyo social percibido y los síntomas de depresión y ansiedad de los cuidadores. RESULTADOS: Los mecanismos de afrontamiento más utilizados por los cuidadores fueron: aceptación, religión y afrontamiento activo. El cuidador que usa estrategias enfocadas en lo emocional tiene mayor apoyo social, presenta menos síntomas depresivos y la persona con demencia a quien cuida tiene menos necesidades no cubiertas. Finalmente, el apoyo social percibido por el cuidador actuó, respectivamente, como mediador total y parcial entre las estrategias de afrontamiento enfocadas en lo emocional y disfuncionales y las necesidades no cubiertas de las personas con demencia. CONCLUSIONES: Estos hallazgos muestran la necesidad de aumentar las redes de apoyo de los cuidadores y desarrollar intervenciones que aumenten el uso de estrategias enfocadas en lo emocional, las cuales impactarían de manera positiva en el cuidado de las personas con demencia y en el propio bienestar del cuidador

BACKGROUND: Being a caregiver comprises several challenges in order to maintain the wellbeing of people with dementia and their caregivers. The aim of this study was to describe the coping mechanisms, social support and depressive and anxiety symptoms in informal caregivers, and to determine their relationship with unmet needs of people with dementia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with a convenient sample of 166 dyads of informal caregivers and their care-recipients with dementia. Cognitive decline and unmet needs of people with dementia, and caregivers' coping, social support and depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed. RESULTS: Most frequently used coping mechanism were: acceptance, religion and active coping. Caregivers who use emotion-focused coping strategies have higher social support, less depressive symptoms and their care-recipient shows less unmet needs. Finally, perceived social support acted, respectively, as a total and partial mediator between emotion-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies and people with dementia's unmet needs. CONCLUSION: These findings show the importance of enhancing caregivers' social networks and developing interventions aimed to increment the use of emotion-focused coping strategies which will ultimately impact positively on persons with dementia