title: The comparison of quality of life among people with mild dementia in nursing home and home care--a preliminary report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Living arrangements play an important role in determining the quality of life (QoL) of people with dementia. Although informal care (home-based) is favored, the transition to formal (institutional) care often becomes necessary, especially in the later stages of dementia. Nevertheless, there is currently no definitive evidence showing that informal or formal care provides a higher QoL for those with dementia.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the QoL of people with dementia in the nursing home and home care, and identify factors that differentiate their QoL.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional survey. A total of 49 people with dementia ≥60 years old were recruited from government nursing homes and hospitals (home care). Consenting participants were assessed on cognitive severity, QoL, activities of daily living (ADLs), depression, and social isolation/connectedness by the Short Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE), the WHO-8 (the EUROHIS-QOL), Short Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-8), Barthel Index (BI), Cornell Scale for Depression (CSDD), and Friendship Scale (FS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant differences in QoL, HRQoLs, ADLs, and social connectedness among people with dementia in home care (n = 19) and those in nursing homes (n = 30) (p < 0.01). No significant differences were found by socio-demographic factors, cognitive severity, or depression between the study cohorts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Older adults with dementia who were living at home experienced higher QoL, ADLs, and social connectedness compared with those living in institutional care. Support should be provided enabling home care and empowering caregivers to provide better care for people with dementia.
authors: Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia anikmat@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au.
authors: Azlina W
authors: AW
authors: Nikmat
authors: University of Melbourne, Australia.
authors: Graeme
authors: G
authors: Hawthorne
authors: Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
authors: Syed H
authors: SH
authors: Al-Mashoor
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011788:Quality of Life; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: dementia; home care; nursing homes; quality of life