The Perceived Needs Questionnaire for Dementia Informal Caregivers (PNQ-DIC): Development and initial validation

Abstract

Despite the recognition of the value of informal caregiving, the recognition of its burden, and the recognition of the prevalence of unmet needs, little consensus exist about what are the unmet needs of dementia informal caregivers and they should be measured within this context1 . The assessment/recognition of (unmet) needs in informal caregiving in the context of dementia should be a priority given its potential role on the design and development ofservices, policies, and psychosocial interventions capable of alleviating caregivers’ burden. While many instruments exist to assess informal caregivers needs (see for a review2 ), none of them was developed and validated to account for the specific needs of informal dementia caregiving. In this study, we present the process used to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a novel and rapid self-report instrument for both research and clinical use designed to measure the needs of informal dementia caregivers - the PNQ-IDC.