{"id":1103,"date":"2025-05-07T11:13:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T09:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/?page_id=1103"},"modified":"2025-10-08T12:11:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:11:01","slug":"haeusliche-pflege-skala-langform","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/en\/haeusliche-pflege-skala-langform\/","title":{"rendered":"Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC)"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1104\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1104\" style=\"width: 820px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1104\" src=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/files\/2025\/05\/BSFC-300x164.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"820\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/files\/2025\/05\/BSFC-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/files\/2025\/05\/BSFC-768x420.png 768w, https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/files\/2025\/05\/BSFC.png 917w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Available languages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC) was designed to measure the subjective burden of informal caregivers (CGs). It was developed in 1993 and has since been extensively validated (Gr\u00e4\u00dfel, 2001; Grau et al., 2015).<\/p>\n<p>The BSFC is a self-assessment scale with 28 statements about various aspects of the subjective burden of CGs. Subjective burden is based on Lazarus&#8217; Transactional Stress Model (1984): The primary appraisal includes the assessment of the CG\u2019s direct experience with the care situation, while the secondary appraisal includes the assessment of how the CG deals with the care situation. The BSFC was developed to record the CG\u2019s subjective burden based on this model.<\/p>\n<p>For each of the 28 statements, the degree of agreement is determined using a 4-point scale (<em>strongly agree<\/em><em>, agree, disagree, strongly disagree<\/em>). The score ranges from 0 to 84 points, with a higher score indicating greater subjective burden. The BSFC is easy to use in both research and practice and is available free of charge.<\/p>\n<p>The BSFC is available in the following languages: Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Finnish, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Oriya, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Ukrainian. You can register <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/?page_id=56&amp;preview=true\">here<\/a> to download the BSFC.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-0\">\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_0\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_0\" id=\"collapse_button_0\"> Benefits of Using the Scale <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_0\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_0\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">CGs have an increased risk of developing psychological complaints, especially depression (e.g., del-Pino-Casado et al., 2019; del-Pino-Casado et al., 2021) and physical complaints, (e.g., cardiovascular diseases; Ahn et al., 2022). Another risk factor is abusive behavior toward care-recipients (Boye &amp; Jan, 2018), including aggressive behavior (Storey, 2020). There are CGs to whom none of these risks apply. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">However, there is a scientifically supported correlation between these risks and the subjective burden of the CG: The greater the subjective burden of the CG, the more pronounced the health (Gr\u00e4\u00dfel, 1998) and behavioral (Boye &amp; Jan, 2018) risks to the CG. It is thus important to identify \u201cat-risk relatives\u201d (i.e., those with a high level of stress). Measures can then be introduced to reduce the burden and thus the risk of negative effects.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_1\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_1\" id=\"collapse_button_1\"> Who is the BSFC for? <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_1\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_1\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">The BSFC was developed and validated for CGs, regardless of the cause of the need for care (e.g., stroke, cancer, rheumatism, dementia), regardless of the relationship of the CGs to the care-recipients (caregiving parent, caregiving partner, caregiving adult children, no degree of kinship with relatives), and also regardless of the intensity of the need for help (from light support to severe need for care). The BSFC can also be used regardless of the severity of the need for assistance, from the initial need for support to the need for round the clock care. The prerequisite is that the CGs must be informal CGs. The burden on professional CGs can be validly recorded using another instrument: the Professional Care Team Burden (PCTB) scale (Auer et al., 2015).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-2\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_2\" id=\"collapse_button_2\"> Use of the BSFC in Research <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_2\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_2\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">The BSFC is a valid screening instrument in practice (e.g., in a counseling setting) as well as in research. Due to its availability in several languages, a cross-cultural comparison of the subjective burden of CGs is also possible. You can find a comprehensive overview of research with the BSFC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/en\/forschung\/\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_3\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_3\" id=\"collapse_button_3\"> Use of the BSFC in Practice <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_3\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_3\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">In practice, the BSFC can be helpful for advising CGs. Several approaches for assisting CGs can be identified by looking at the items that show a high burden. In addition, by repeatedly administering surveys, it is possible to assess the effectiveness of assistance by reducing subjective burden.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-4\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_4\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_4\" id=\"collapse_button_4\"> Evaluation and Interpretation of the Total Value <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_4\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_4\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\"><strong>The evaluation and interpretation are carried out in three steps:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><strong>(1) Point value per item: <\/strong>Each item in the BSFC is rated on a four-point scale:<\/span><\/p>\n<table class=\" aligncenter\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 76.8436%;height: 120px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\"><strong>Answer to Items 1, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 19, 22, 28<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.015%;height: 24px\"><strong>Points<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">strongly disagree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.015%;height: 24px\">3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">disagree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.015%;height: 24px\">2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">agree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.015%;height: 24px\">1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">strongly agree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.015%;height: 24px\">0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table class=\" aligncenter\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 76.8436%;height: 120px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\"><strong>Answer to Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.014%;height: 24px\"><strong>Points<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">strongly agree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.014%;height: 24px\">3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">agree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.014%;height: 24px\">2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">disagree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.014%;height: 24px\">1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 24px\">\n<td style=\"width: 63.1816%;height: 24px\">strongly disagree<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 378.014%;height: 24px\">0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><strong>(2) Calculation of the total value<\/strong> from the point values of all 28 items.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><strong>(3) Interpretation of the total value<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">: The higher the total score, the more pronounced the subjective burden.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/en\/download\/\">Here <\/a>you can download information on the evaluation and interpretation of the BSFC.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-5\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_5\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_5\" id=\"collapse_button_5\"> Dealing with Missing Values <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_5\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_5\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/en\/download\/\">Here <\/a>you can download information about how to deal with missing values.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-6\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_6\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_6\" id=\"collapse_button_6\"> Literature <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_6\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_6\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Ahn, S., Esquivel, J. H., Davis, E. M., Logan, J. G. &amp; Chung, M. L. (2022). Cardiovascular disease incidence and risk in family caregivers of adults with chronic conditions: a systematic review. <i>Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing<\/i>,\u00a0<i>37<\/i>(3), E47-E60. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"> Auer, S., Graessel, E., Viereckl, C., Kienberger, U., Span, E. &amp; Luttenberger, K. (2015). Professional Care Team Burden (PCTB) scale \u2013 reliability, validity and factor analysis. <em>Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 13<\/em>(17). DOI: 10.1186\/s12955-014-0199-8. (Open access)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Boye, F. &amp; Yan, E. (2018). Abuse of older persons with dementia: A review of the literature. <em>Trauma, Violence &amp; Abuse, 19<\/em>(2), 127-147.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"> del-Pino-Casado, R., Priego-Cubero, E., L\u00f3pez-Mart\u00ednez, C. &amp; Orgeta, V. (2021). Subjective caregiver burden and anxiety in informal caregivers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. <i>PLOS ONE<\/i>,\u00a0<i>16<\/i>(3), e0247143. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"> del-Pino-Casado, R., Rodriguez Cardosa, M., L\u00f3pez-Mart\u00ednez, C. &amp; Orgeta, V. (2019). The association between subjective caregiver burden and depressive symptoms in carers of older relatives: A systematic review and meta-analysis. <i>PLOS ONE<\/i>,\u00a0<i>14<\/i>(5), e0217648. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Gr\u00e4\u00dfel, E. (2001). <em>H\u00e4usliche-Pflege-Skala HPS: zur Erfassung der Belastung bei betreuenden oder pflegenden Personen.<\/em> Ebersberg: Vless.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Grau, H., Graessel, E. &amp; Berth, H. (2015). The subjective burden of informal caregivers of persons with dementia: extended validation of the German language version of the Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC). <i>Aging &amp; Mental Health<\/i>,\u00a0<i>19<\/i>(2), 159-168.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Lazarus, R.S. &amp; Folkman, S. (1984). <em>Stress, appraisal, and coping<\/em>. New York, NY: Springer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Storey, J. E. (2020). Risk factors for elder abuse and neglect: A review of the literature. <em>Aggression and Violent Behavior, 50,<\/em> 101339.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rrze-elements accordion style_default\" id=\"accordion-7\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-group med\">\n<h2 class=\"accordion-heading\"><button class=\"accordion-toggle\" data-toggle=\"collapse\"  href=\"#collapse_7\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"collapse_7\" id=\"collapse_button_7\"> Download <\/button><\/h2>\n<div id=\"collapse_7\" class=\"accordion-body\" aria-labelledby=\"collapse_button_7\">\n<div class=\"accordion-inner clearfix\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">You can register to download the scales <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/en\/download\/\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>!<\/strong><\/span> Those responsible for this website guarantee that all information provided during registration will be treated confidentially, in particular that it will not be passed on to third parties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Downloading is permitted for non-commercial use only, which means specifically that<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">the respondent completing the self-assessment tool incurs no immediate (direct) costs (billing as a health insurance benefit by third parties, e.g., doctors, is possible) and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">the BSFC is not resold to third parties in any form as part of a combined survey tool consisting of several survey instruments (e.g., as part of a larger, fee-based assessment tool).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\">Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC); Burden Scale for Family Caregivers \u2013 short form (BSFC-s); Informal Caregiver (CG)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC) was designed to measure the subjective burden of informal caregivers (CGs). It was developed in 1993 and has since been extensively validated (Gr\u00e4\u00dfel,&hellip;<!--&hellip;--> <a class=\"more-link fa fa-angle-double-right\" href=\"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/en\/haeusliche-pflege-skala-langform\/\" title=\"Read more about &quot;Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC)&quot;\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5160,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_rrze_cache":"enabled","_rrze_multilang_single_locale":"en_GB","_rrze_multilang_single_source":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/?page_id=108","footnotes":""},"page_category":[8],"page_tag":[],"class_list":["post-1103","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","page_category-bsfc","en-GB"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1103"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2585,"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1103\/revisions\/2585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_category?post=1103"},{"taxonomy":"page_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caregiving-tests.de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_tag?post=1103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}