[Quality of life in Alzheimer's disease].
BACKGROUND
Quality of life is a concept that is receiving increasing amounts of attention; its assessment complements the traditional clinical evaluation, which is of special interest in areas related with healthcare organisation. Here, we present a study on quality of life in Alzheimer's disease and its relationship with cognitive and functional measures.


METHODS
Quality of life was evaluated by means of the EQ-5D scale in a sample of cases of Alzheimer's disease (diagnosed according to criteria established by the National Institute of Neurologic, Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association) that donated blood samples for the National DNA Bank. The status of the global deterioration scale was determined and a verbal fluency test and the Folstein minimental test were also carried out. A classic analysis, variable contrast by means of chi-square for proportions and Student's t test for measurements were conducted, as well as estimation of r for the regression models in the quantitative variables. The social rate was determined using the software application SPSS v. 11.


RESULTS
Altogether 141 cases were analysed, with a male to female ratio of 2:1, and a mean age of 76.2 years. Aspects such as personal hygiene, activity and, to a lesser extent, motility are affected in Alzheimer's disease, but pain and anxiety aspects do not seem to be affected. There is a relationship between quality of life, functional scales and cognitive scales. Functional aspects correlate with quality of life better than cognitive ones.


CONCLUSIONS
Quality of life is evaluated in Alzheimer's disease using general scales, such as EQ-5D. Cognitive aspects do not appear to provide relevant information about quality of life that is not already provided by the functional aspects.
Baquero
M
M
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia, España. baquero_miq@gva.es
Peset
V
V
Burguera
J A
JA
Salazar-Cifre
A
A
Boscá-Blasco
M E
ME
del Olmo-Rodríguez
A
A
Valero-Merino
C
C
Muñoz-Lacalle
R A
RA
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires