A Systematic Review of Psychometric Instruments Used to Measure Stroke Family Caregiver Health.

Abstract

Background: Stroke family caregivers have been found to neglect their own health as they provide much-needed care to their loved ones. They have been shown to experience significantly poorer health than non-caregiving populations. Studies addressing stroke family caregiver health tend to use a wide variety of instruments to measure this concept. The purpose of this review is to examine the psychometric instruments currently used in the stroke family caregiving literature to measure stroke caregivers' health. During this process, relevance will be assessed, key measurement gaps will be identified, and recommendations will be provided for future research and clinical practice.

Methods: Guided by PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases and included peer-reviewed studies published between January 2000 and October 2025.

Results: A total of 39 studies met the inclusion criteria. The most frequently used were the Medical Outcomes Short Form (SF-36), followed by the European Quality of Life Instrument (EuroQol), the Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale (BCOS), the Abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure (WHOQoL-Bref), the Unhealthy Days Measure, and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). All were global measures, except for the BCOS, which was caregiver-specific. The BCOS did not measure healthy behaviors.

Conclusions: Currently available instruments remain useful, but their selection and interpretation in stroke family caregiver populations require awareness of their strengths and limitations.