Department of Epidemiology, University Medical Center Groningen, PO Box 30.001, 9700, RB, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Health Psychology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, PO Box 196, 9700, AD, Groningen, The Netherlands.
BMC Geriatr. 2018 Jan 16;18(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s12877-018-0711-9.
Assessing quality of life among the elderly is a complex and multifaceted issue. Elderly people might find valuing and describing their personal experience of quality of life (QoL) demanding and cumbersome. This study therefore sought to determine the feasibility of administering two questionnaires in two samples of elderly people.
A preference-based instrument (EQ-5D + C) and a currently achieved functioning questionnaire (CAF) were utilized. Two pilot studies were performed. The first was performed in South Africa (n = 30), designed to test whether elderly respondents could complete and understand the two questionnaires and also to indicate which valuation method, visual analogue scale or time trade off they preferred. A second pilot study was performed in the Netherlands (n = 30), designed to investigate the use of both questionnaires in determining quality of life and health state valuations in a Dutch sample of elderly.
Seventy percent of the South African respondents indicated that they preferred the visual analogue scale (VAS) method, when compared to the time trade-off (TTO). In both the South African and the Dutch pilot studies, the respondents, with different dependency levels, were able to use both questionnaires to determine health state descriptions and valuations. When ranking the profiles from fewer to more problems, the EQ-5D + C exhibits a gradual downwards trend, with a maximum of 100 and minimum VAS value of 41. The CAF also exhibits a gradual downwards trend, with a maximum of 1.00 and minimum VAS value of 36.
The results indicate that individuals from different parts of the world are able to complete, describe, and value the questionnaires. It is our recommendation that a comprehensive study should be done, which includes both the EQ-5D + C questionnaire and the CAF questionnaire, since the two questionnaires have proven to be feasible in providing information on quality of life and well-being of elderly people.
评估老年人的生活质量是一个复杂且多方面的问题。老年人可能会觉得评估和描述他们个人的生活质量体验既困难又繁琐。因此，本研究旨在确定在两个老年人群体样本中管理两个问卷的可行性。
使用偏好量表（EQ-5D + C）和当前实现的功能问卷（CAF）。进行了两项试点研究。第一项在南非进行（n=30），旨在测试老年受访者是否能够完成并理解这两个问卷，以及指出他们更喜欢哪种估值方法，视觉模拟量表或时间权衡。第二项在荷兰进行（n=30），旨在研究在荷兰老年人群体中使用这两个问卷来确定生活质量和健康状况估值。
70%的南非受访者表示，与时间权衡（TTO）相比，他们更喜欢视觉模拟量表（VAS）方法。在南非和荷兰的试点研究中，具有不同依赖水平的受访者都能够使用这两个问卷来确定健康状况描述和估值。当从较少问题到更多问题对配置文件进行排名时，EQ-5D + C 表现出逐渐下降的趋势，最大值为 100，VAS 值最小值为 41。CAF 也表现出逐渐下降的趋势，最大值为 1.00，VAS 值最小值为 36。
结果表明，来自世界不同地区的个体能够完成、描述和评估问卷。我们建议应进行一项综合研究，其中包括 EQ-5D + C 问卷和 CAF 问卷，因为这两个问卷已被证明能够提供有关老年人生活质量和幸福感的信息。
