Health-related quality of life in the Cambridge City over-75s Cohort (CC75C): development of a dementia-specific scale and descriptive analyses

BMC Geriatrics

Research Article

Theodore D Cosco¹  Steven Martin¹  Carol Brayne¹  Jane Fleming¹  Jaime Perales²  Josep Maria Haro³  Blossom CM Stephan⁴ 

[1] Department of Public Health & Primary Care, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain;Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain;Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain;The Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK;

关键词: Health-related quality of life;    Dementia;    Alzheimer’s disease;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2318-14-18

 received in 2013-05-07, accepted in 2014-02-04,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe assessment of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) is important in people with dementia as it could influence their care and support plan. Many studies on dementia do not specifically set out to measure dementia-specific HRQL but do include related items. The aim of this study is to explore the distribution of HRQL by functional and socio-demographic variables in a population-based setting.MethodsDomains of DEMQOL’s conceptual framework were mapped in the Cambridge City over 75’s Cohort (CC75C) Study. HRQL was estimated in 110 participants aged 80+ years with a confirmed diagnosis of dementia with mild/moderate severity. Acceptability (missing values and normality of the total score), internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), convergent, discriminant and known group differences validity (Spearman correlations, Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests) were assessed. The distribution of HRQL by socio-demographic and functional descriptors was explored.ResultsThe HRQL score ranged from 0 to 16 and showed an internal consistency Alpha of 0.74. Validity of the instrument was found to be acceptable. Men had higher HRQL than women. Marital status had a greater effect on HRQL for men than it did for women. The HRQL of those with good self-reported health was higher than those with fair/poor self-reported health. HRQL was not associated with dementia severity.ConclusionsTo our knowledge this is the first study to examine the distribution of dementia-specific HRQL in a population sample of the very old. We have mapped an existing conceptual framework of dementia specific HRQL onto an existing study and demonstrated the feasibility of this approach. Findings in this study suggest that whereas there is big emphasis in dementia severity, characteristics such as gender should be taken into account when assessing and implementing programmes to improve HRQL.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Perales et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014