title: The Huntington's disease quality of life battery for carers: reliability and validity.
abstract: Research into the experience of the Huntington Disease (HD) spousal carer has established that carers experience several unique obstacles within their care-giving role. However, there is still a need to establish methodically the factors that impact on the HD spousal carers' situation and ultimately their quality of life. The aim of this pilot study, which was a result of three previous exploratory studies, was to validate a HD-specific quality-of-life (QoL) measure, the Huntington disease quality-of-life battery for carers (HDQoL-C) for use (initially) with spousal carers of HD patients. Eighty-seven HD spousal carers took part in the piloting of the HDQoL-C to assess its reliability and validity as a tool for use within QoL research. Results established the HDQoL-C as a multidimensional and psychometrically sound disease-specific and subjective QoL assessment tool that incorporates the individual's physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships and personal beliefs. The HDQoL-C demonstrates good internal consistency, test-re-test reliability and congruent validity.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aubeeluck
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Buchanan
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires