title: [Health-related quality of life in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Progressive deterioration in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has a major impact on their health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The objectives of this study are to evaluate HRQOL in a sample of patients diagnosed with ALS and estimate the predictive capability of a set of sociodemographic variables for the different scales covered by a general health survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 63 patients diagnosed with ALS were assessed using a sociodemographic questionnaire and the SF-36 general health survey. The sociodemographic variables studied were sex, age, presence of a caregiver, employment status, and time from diagnosis of disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SF-36 survey shows positive correlations between the different scales composing it, which proves its reliability. The mean scores obtained for each of the SF-36 scales were higher in men than in women, although the only statistically significant difference was for the Physical Role scale. The lowest age range (less than 56 years) presented the highest mean scores for most of these dimensions. Most of the variance in the test is explained by the variable 'presence of caregiver'.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SF-36 health survey has been confirmed as a valid and useful tool for evaluating HRQOL in ALS patients, and it discriminates between patients in different states of health according to their level of dependency.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, España.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Sánchez-López
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Evaluación del Servicio Canario de la Salud, Tenerife, España; Red de Investigación en Servicios Sanitarios en Enfermedades Crónicas (REDISSEC), Tenerife, España. Electronic address: lperperr@gobiernodecanarias.org.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Perestelo-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, España.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramos-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Red de Investigación en Servicios Sanitarios en Enfermedades Crónicas (REDISSEC), Tenerife, España; Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, España.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López-Bastida
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Evaluación del Servicio Canario de la Salud, Tenerife, España; Red de Investigación en Servicios Sanitarios en Enfermedades Crónicas (REDISSEC), Tenerife, España.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Serrano-Aguilar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Calidad de vida relacionada con la salud; Caregivers; Cuestionario; Cuidadores; Esclerosis lateral amiotrófica; Health-related quality of life; Pacientes; Patients; Short Form 36 Health Survey; Survey