Comparative analysis of self-rating and caregiver-rating quality of life of dementia patients in elderly homes

Objective To compare the results of self-rating and caregiver-rating quality of life of dementia patients in elderly homes,and to provide basis for evaluating quality of life of dementia patients.Methods Totally,85 mild to moderate dementia patients from two social elderly homes in Beijing and Guangzhou were recruited.The quality of life of dementia patients were rated by themselves and their formal caregivers using the Dementia Quality of Life(DQoL) scale.The results of quality of life between self-rating and caregiver-rating were compared.Results There were no significant differences in the total score and each factor scores of quality of life between self-rating and caregiver-rating(P 0.05).Correlation analysis showed that,except the dimension of self-esteem in mild dementia patients,positive correlations were found in the total score and the dimension scores of quality of life between self-rating and caregiver-rating(P 0.01 or P 0.05).Conclusion The results of self-rating and caregiver-rating on the quality of life of mild to moderate dementia patients are highly correlated.It is suggested that when the dementia patients cannot rate their quality of life,the formal caregivers can act as the proxy to rate the quality of life.