Abstract: Objective: To translate and verify the validity and reliability of the Empowerment Scale for Family Caregivers of Community-dwelling People with Dementia (EFCD). Methods: Chinese version of EFCD was culturally revised by the forward-back translation, cultural adjustment and pilot survey from May to December 2021. Expert consultation method was adopted to conduct cultural adaptation and evaluate the content validity. A total of 201 caregivers were investigated through the WeChat group of caregivers. The confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the structural validity, and the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the scale were evaluated. Results: The Chinese version of EFCD included four dimensions and sixteen items. The results of confirmatory factor analysis were as follows: χ2/df was 2.851, RMSEA was 0.096, SRMR was 0.066, CFI was 0.902, TLI was 0.877. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.904, and the Cronbach's α coefficients of the four dimensions were 0.661-0.876. At the interval of two weeks, the test-retest reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.822, and the test-retest reliability coefficients of the four dimensions were 0.618-0.774, respectively, with statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusion: The Chinese version of EFCD has good reliability and validity, which can be used as an effective tool to evaluate the empowerment level of family caregivers of community-dwelling people with dementia in China.

Key words: dementia; caregiver; empowerment; reliability; validity