title: Quality of life of nursing home residents with dementia: a comparison of perspectives of residents, family, and staff.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Quality of Life (QoL) has become increasingly valued as a key outcome in dementia both in clinical practice and in research. This study compares the QoL of long-term residents with dementia as assessed by the individuals, their relatives, and their care staff.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on residents with dementia were collected in 11 nursing homes. The Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease Scale (QOL-AD) residential version was directly applied to residents with dementia diagnosis and Mini-Mental State Examination scores under 27, randomly selected in each canter. Residents' QoL was further assessed from the perspective of some close relative and of some staff member. Altogether, 102 data sets from residents, 184 from relatives, and 197 from staff members were collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The completion rate for the resident QOL-AD was 48.8%. Residents' QoL ratings were significantly higher than proxies' ratings. Proxy (i.e., family and staff) scores in the QOL-AD tended to correlate with each other and did not correlate with resident scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Various sources of data provided different perspectives on resident's QoL. Each perspective is relatively independent and somewhat unique. In those patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment, direct measures of QoL should be considered.
authors: Clinical Psychology Department, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. mcrespo@psi.ucm.es
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Crespo
authors: Mónica
authors: M
authors: Bernaldo de Quirós
authors: M Mar
authors: MM
authors: Gómez
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Hornillos
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013030:Spain