A review of quality of life instruments used in dementia.

OBJECTIVE

To provide an overview of QOL measures applicable for research in dementia, the scale content, method of data collection, and their psychometric properties.

METHOD

Literature research.

RESULTS

Six dementia-specific QOL measures were identified, eight generic measures were used in a demented population, and three dementia-specific measures related to QOL are described as well. Measures vary considerably in scale content, and method of data collection. Reliability indexes were always available, support of instrument validity was often reported, but reports of responsiveness to change were found only for two dementia-specific QOL measures.

CONCLUSION

When the interest is primarily on people with dementia, a dementia-specific instrument is to be preferred. Further clarification of the concept of QOL and particularly its relation to disease severity is required.