Instruments
affliction, bodily pain
CHRONIC DISEASES
The instruments were a demographic questionnaire, the Zarit Burden Interview, and the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). The demographic questionnaire had items on participants’ demographic characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, place of residence, marital status, kinship with patient, duration of caregiving, and affliction by chronic diseases.Zarit Burden Interview is a self-report instrument with 22 items in five subscales, namely burden in the relationship, emotional well-being, social and family life, finances, and loss of control over one’s life. Items are scored on a 5-point scale from zero (“never”) to 4 (“almost always”), and the possible total score of the instrument is 0–88 with higher scores showing heavier CB. The total score of this instrument is categorized and interpreted as follows: scores 0–20: light CB; scores 21–40: mild to moderate CB; scores 41–60: moderate to heavy CB; and scores 61–88: heavy CB. Previous studies confirmed the acceptable validity and reliability of the Persian version of this instrument [SF-12 was used to assess participants’ QOL. This survey has twelve items in two main dimensions, namely physical health and mental health. The physical health dimension has items on limitations in physical role functioning, physical health, general health perception, and bodily pain. The items of the mental health dimension are limitation in emotional role functioning, vitality, mental health, and social functioning. Items are scored on 1–2, 1–3, 1–5, or 1–6 scales, and the possible total score of the survey is 12–48, which is interpreted as follows: 12–24: poor QOL; 25–36: moderate QOL; and 37–48: high QOL. Previous studies confirmed that the Persian version of this survey has acceptable validity and reliability [