The quality of life in late-stage dementia (QUALID) scale.

OBJECTIVES

To develop a valid and reliable instrument for rating quality of life in persons with late-stage Alzheimer's disease and other dementing illnesses.

DESIGN

A group of clinicians with extensive experience in dealing with dementia patients developed by consensus the Quality of Life in Dementia Scale (QUALID), an 11-item scale. The window of observation for each subject was 7 days. A 5-point scale captured the frequency of each item (total score ranging from 11 to 55). Lower scores reflected a higher quality of life (QOL). Validity was assessed by comparison with other measures.

SETTING

Dementia special care unit.

PARTICIPANTS

Professional caregivers of 42 patients.

MEASUREMENTS: QUALID, Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).

RESULTS

QUALID scores ranged from 12 to 45 points and were skewed toward higher QOL (lower scores). Internal consistency of items was high, as were test-retest reliability and consistency across recorders. As expected, there was no relationship between QUALID and MMSE or PSMS scores, but there was a statistically significant, although moderate, relationship between QUALID and NPI, and GDS scores.

CONCLUSION

The QUALID is a reliable and valid scale, administered to caregivers, for rating QOL in persons with late-stage dementing illness.