Developing a Chinese quality of life in dementia instrument for patients with early-to-moderate dementia: an exploratory test of validity.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese Dementia Quality of Life instrument, which included testing the different pathways through theoretical quality of life domains (self-esteem, feelings of belonging and sense of aesthetics) to reach outcomes of positive and negative affect.


BACKGROUND
Perceived quality of life in dementia has been conceptualised based on dementia stages. However, the relationships among quality of life domains are unclear in patients with dementia with a Mini-Mental State Examination >10.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Older people (n = 110) were consecutively recruited from memory disorder clinics and community wellness centres (controls). Of these participants, 27 were controls, 39 were diagnosed with questionable dementia and 44 with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. The instrument was back translated and validated.


RESULTS
The instrument has good overall internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.84-0.94). Item-total correlation coefficients, indicating construct validity, were all significant, except for one item. anova showed that controls, patients with questionable dementia and those with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease differed significantly in scores on Sense of Aesthetics subscale. Instrument total score and scores on three of five subscales (not Feelings of Belonging) differed significantly between control and dementia groups, but not between patients with questionable dementia and those with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Factor analyses showed two inconsistencies with the instrument's prior conceptualisation, namely the Self-Esteem and Negative Affect subscales. The Positive Affect path model was supported but not the Negative Affect path model.


CONCLUSIONS
This patient-reported Dementia Quality of Life instrument has acceptable psychometric properties in Taiwanese patients with dementia with a Mini-Mental State Examination score >10. Relevance to clinical practice. The Chinese Dementia Quality of Life instrument can be used to assess subjective quality of life in Taiwanese patients with dementia with a Mini-Mental State Examination score >10.
Chiu
Yi-Chen
YC
School of Nursing, Chang-Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan. yulandac@mail.cgu.edu.tw
Chiu
Yen-Feng
YF
Hsu
Wen-Chuin
WC
Lee
Shwu-Hua
SH
Chen
Sien-Tsong
ST
Kao
Hui-Yi
HY
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life