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Measuring the quality of life of family carers of people with dementia: development and validation of C-DEMQOL.
- Source :
-
Quality of Life Research . Aug2019, Vol. 28 Issue 8, p2299-2310. 12p. 1 Diagram, 5 Charts. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- <bold>Purpose: </bold>We aimed to address gaps identified in the evidence base and instruments available to measure the quality of life (QOL) of family carers of people with dementia, and develop a new brief, reliable, condition-specific instrument.<bold>Methods: </bold>We generated measurable domains and indicators of carer QOL from systematic literature reviews and qualitative interviews with 32 family carers and 9 support staff, and two focus groups with 6 carers and 5 staff. Statements with five tailored response options, presenting variation on the QOL continuum, were piloted (n = 25), pre-tested (n = 122) and field-tested (n = 300) in individual interviews with family carers from North London and Sussex. The best 30 questions formed the C-DEMQOL questionnaire, which was evaluated for usability, face and construct validity, reliability and convergent/discriminant validity using a range of validation measures.<bold>Results: </bold>C-DEMQOL was received positively by the carers. Factor analysis confirmed that C-DEMQOL sum scores are reliable in measuring overall QOL (ω = 0.97) and its five subdomains: 'meeting personal needs' (ω = 0.95); 'carer wellbeing' (ω = 0.91); 'carer-patient relationship' (ω = 0.82); 'confidence in the future' (ω = 0.90) and 'feeling supported' (ω = 0.85). The overall QOL and domain scores show the expected pattern of convergent and discriminant relationships with established measures of carer mental health, activities and dementia severity and symptoms.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>The robust psychometric properties support the use of C-DEMQOL in evaluation of overall and domain-specific carer QOL; replications in independent samples and studies of responsiveness would be of value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *QUALITY of life
*FAMILIES
*DEMENTIA
*MEASURING instruments
*FACTOR analysis
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09629343
- Volume :
- 28
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Quality of Life Research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 137419496
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-019-02186-w