The validity and reliability of the ‘Cancer Caregiving Tasks, Consequences and Needs Questionnaire’ (CaTCoN)

Figures & data

Table I. Caregiver characteristics.

	N = 590	%
Caregiver age (years)
18–29	38	6
30–39	79	13
40–49	120	20
50–59	128	22
60–69	143	24
70–79	67	11
80+	12	2
Missing	3	1
Caregiver gender
Female	358	61
Male	228	39
Missing	4	1
Relation to the patient
Spouse/partner	271	46
Child	182	31
Parent	47	8
Sibling	39	7
Friend	24	4
Colleague	2	0
Other	22	4
Missing	3	1
Caregiver level of education
No education	43	7
Student	18	3
Special worker education	23	4
Short education (< 1 year)	19	3
Trainee education	62	11
Shorter theoretical education (1–3 years)	109	18
Longer theoretical education (> 3 years)	188	32
Academic education	106	18
Missing	22	4
Caregiver habitation
Country/village	94	16
Smaller provincial town	97	16
Bigger provincial town	90	15
City or suburbs	301	51
Missing	8	1
The patient's diagnosis
Head and neck	44	7
Gastrointestinal	119	20
Lung	24	4
Gynecological	140	24
Prostate	16	3
Urinary	2	0
Breast	37	6
Leukemia	121	21
Other locations	85	14
Missing	2	0
Patient's cancer stage (TNM)
Stage 1	110	19
Stage 2	69	12
Stage 3	83	14
Stage 4	83	14
Unknown	245	42

Table II. Hypothesized CaTCoN subscales (left) with internal correlations (second column from the left), and the revised CaTCoN subscales after tests of correlations (third column from the left) with intercorrelations (right column).

Hypothesized CaTCoN subscales	Internal correlations of hypothesized CaTCoN subscales	The CaTCoN subscales after revisions made on basis of the intercorrelations of the hypothesized subscales	Internal correlations of revised CaTCoN subscales
Caregiving workload (5 items) (items 1a, 1b, 1c, 3, 4)	0.30–0.53	Caregiving workload (retained; 5 items)	0.30–0.53
Lack of attention from HCPs on the caregivers’ wellbeing (4 items) (items 10, 11, 29, 30)	0.55–0.82	Lack of attention from HCPs on the caregivers’ wellbeing (retained; 4 items)	0.55–0.82
Lack of balanced information (2 items) (items 18, 19)	0.15*	Abandoned	–
Lack of information from HCPs (13 items) (items 14a-m)	0.37–0.83	Lack of information from HCPs (revised; 14 items) (items 14a-m, 33)	0.37–0.83
Lack of personal growth (3 items) (items 6e, 6f, 6g)	0.52–0.56	Lack of personal growth (retained; 3 items)	0.52–0.56
Lack of possibility for taking time off from the role as caregiver (2 items) (items 39, 41)	0.34*	Abandoned	–
Lack of privacy during conversations with HCPs (2 items) (items 35, 36)	0.69	Lack of privacy during conversations with HCPs (retained; 2 items)	0.69
Need for help from HCPs (2 items) (items 16, 17)	0.48	Need for help HCPs (retained; 2 items)	0.48
Need for taking time off from the role as caregiver (2 items) (items 38, 40)	0.05*	Abandoned	–
Negative consequences of being a caregiver (6 items) (items 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 8, 9)	0.25–0.76	Negative consequences of being a caregiver (revised; 4 items) (items 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d)	0.36–0.76
Problems with the quality of information and communication from HCPs (7 items) (items 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28)	0.46–0.80	Problems with the quality of information and communication from HCPs (retained; 7 items)	0.46–0.80
		Subscale not hypothesized a priori:
		Need for contact to other caregivers (2 items) (items 32, 37c)	0.62

HCPs, health care professionals.

*One or more items not included in the subscale correlated significantly higher with a subscale item than the subscale items correlated internally.

Table III. Results from factor analysis of each of the CaTCoN subscales established on basis of test of correlations, and Cronbach's alpha for each of the final CaTCoN subscales (right).

	Factor analysis
CaTCoN subscales	1st factor eigenvalue (explained variance)	2nd factor eigenvalue^a (explained variance)	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	Cronbach's alpha
Caregiving workload (items 1a, 1b, 1c, 3, 4)	3.034 (60%)	0.689 (14%)	0.988	0.986	0.070	0.77
Lack of attention from HCPs on the caregivers’ wellbeing (items 10, 11, 29, 30)	3.502 (88%)	0.334 (8%)	0.996	0.987	0.285	0.92
Lack of information from HCPs (items 14g-m, 33)	10.080 (72%)	1.103 (8%)	0.944	0.977	0.198	0.95
Lack of personal growth^c (items 6e, 6f, 6g)	–	–	–	–	–	0.78
Lack of privacy during conversations with HCPs^c (items 35, 36)	–	–	–	–	–	0.85
Lack of time for social relations^c, d (items 6c, 6d)	–	–	–	–	–	0.87
Need for contact to other caregivers^c (items 32, 37c)	–	–	–	–	–	0.77
Need for help from HCPs^c (items 16, 17)	–	–	–	–	–	0.65
Negative consequences of being a caregiver (items 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d)	2.730 (68%)	0.714 (18%)	0.982	0.945	0.271	–^b
Problems with the quality of information and communication from HCPs (items 21–25, 27, 28)	5.385 (77%)	0.587 (8%)	0.972	0.984	0.197	0.92

HCPs, health care professionals.

^aNo subscales had eigenvalues above 1 for more than two factors; ^bThe subscale ‘negative consequences of being a caregiver’ was abandoned on basis of the factor analysis; ^cThe two- and three-items subscales did not undergo factor analysis; ^dThe subscale was formed after the abandonment of the scale ‘negative consequences of being a caregiver’.