title: Health-related quality of life and health utility for the institutional elderly in Taiwan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and health utility in an institutional elderly population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred sixty-five elderly persons living in long-term care institutions in Taiwan were interviewed using Taiwan's abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF), rating scale (RS) and the Time-Trade-Off (TTO) utility measurement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The WHOQOL-BREF showed acceptable internal consistency (alpha range: 0.75-0.80 across domains) and validity. The sexual activity facet had the lowest response rate. Educational level, number of chronic diseases, physical performance, and number of caregivers had significant (p < 0.05) impacts on the domain scores of the WHOQOL-BREF. Physical performance had the strongest impact on the physical domain (R2 = 0.40) and accounted for significant percentages of the variance on the other three domains (R2 = 0.06-0.13). The mean RS score (score 0-100) was 61.3 +/- 16.2 (mean +/- SD). The mean TTO utility (score 0-1) was 0.92 +/- 0.22.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicate that the WHOQOL-BREF, excepting the sexual activity item, is useful for evaluating HRQOL of conscious elderly in institutions. The validity of TTO utility for studying the institutionalized elderly needs further evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kuan-Lang
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Rong-Jye
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Tzeng
authors.forename: Bing-Long
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong-Shen
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Roger L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Amidon
authors.forename: Senyeong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D013624:Taiwan