Objective: The number of male caregivers has increased, but male caregiversface several problems that reduce their quality of life and psychological condition. Thisstudy focused on the coping problems of men who care for people with dementia at home. Itaimed to develop a coping scale for male caregivers so that they can continue caring forpeople with dementia at home and improve their own quality of life. The study also aimedto verify the reliability and validity of the scale.
Patients/Material and Methods: The subjects were 759 men who care for peoplewith dementia at home. The Care Problems Coping Scale consists of 21 questions based onelements of questions extracted from a pilot study. Additionally, subjects completed threeself-administered questionnaires: the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver BurdenScale, the Depressive Symptoms and the Self-esteem Emotional Scale, and RosenbergSelf-Esteem Scale.
Results: There were 274 valid responses (36.1% response rate). Regarding theanswer distribution, each average value of the 21 items ranged from 1.56 to 2.68. Themedian answer distribution of the 21 items was 39 (SD = 6.6). Five items had a ceilingeffect, and two items had a floor effect. The scale stability was about 50%, andCronbach’s α was 0.49. There were significant correlations between the Care ProblemsCoping Scale and total scores of the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale,the Depressive Symptoms and Self-esteem Emotional Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-EsteemScale.
Conclusion: The answers provided on the Care Problems Coping Scalequestionnaire indicated that male caregivers experience care problems. In terms ofvalidity, there were significant correlations between the external questionnaires and 19of the 21 items in this scale. This scale can therefore be used to measure problems withcoping for male caregivers who care for people with dementia at home.