The Development of a Quality of Life Scale for Informal Carers for Older Adults

Background: The aim of the study was to develop a multidimensional quality of life instrument suitable for use among individuals across cultures who have an informal care role for older persons. Methods: Participants were informal carers of older adults in the United Kingdom ( n = 308), United States ( n = 164), and China ( n = 131). We carried out exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of 61 items derived from the eight-factor Adult Carers Quality of Life Questionnaire with newly added items to define both traditional and nontraditional informal care roles. Results: Findings suggest a 24-item quality of life scale with a six-factor structure to caring for older adults that assesses (a) exhaustion, (b) adoption of a traditional carer role, (c) personal growth, (d) management and performance, (e) level of support, and (f) financial matters. Conclusion: We present a new scale to assess the multidimensional aspects of quality of life among those caring for older adults.

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Aging Voice Index (AVI): Reliability and Validity of a Voice Quality of Life Scale for Older Adults

Journal of Voice ◽

10.1016/j.jvoice.2018.04.006 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (5) ◽

pp. 807.e7-807.e12 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Nicole M. Etter ◽

Edie R. Hapner ◽

Julie M. Barkmeier-Kraemer ◽

Jackie L. Gartner-Schmidt ◽

Emily V. Dressler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Older Adults ◽

Voice Quality ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Aging Voice ◽

Quality Of Life Scale ◽

Life Scale

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Validation of the EuroQol quality of life questionnaire on stroke victims

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria ◽

10.1590/s0004-282x2011000300010 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 69 (2b) ◽

pp. 320-323 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

E B Pinto ◽

I Maso ◽

R N R Vilela ◽

L C Santos ◽

J Oliveira-Filho

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Daily Living ◽

Interobserver Agreement ◽

Kappa Statistics ◽

Stroke Severity ◽

Life Questionnaire ◽

Quality Of Life Questionnaire ◽

Quality Of Life Scale ◽

Life Scale

OBJECTIVE: To validate a quality of life scale, EuroQoL, on stroke patients. METHOD: 67 patients were scored simultaneously for EuroQoL-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Barthel Index (mBI). Pearson test was used to correlate each scale. Additionally, 31 patients were examined by two independent evaluators on the same day through application of EQ-5D. Kappa statistics were used to evaluate interobserver agreement. RESULTS: EQ-5D showed good correlation with both stroke severity (NIHSS, r= -0.404, P<0.001) and degree of impairment on activities of daily living (mBI, r=0.512, P<0.001). We noticed a good interobserver agreement (k>0.60) in all dimensions evaluated (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that EQ-5D is reproducible and valid on evaluation of quality of life in patients post stroke in Brazil.

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Informal caregiving and quality of life among older adults: Prospective analyses from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)

10.31235/osf.io/qk6xr ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lawrence B Sacco ◽

Stefanie König ◽

Hugo Westerlund ◽

Loretta G. Platts

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Older Adults ◽

Informal Care ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Later Life ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Informal Carers ◽

The Relationship ◽

Prospective Analyses

Providing unpaid informal care to someone who is ill or disabled is a common experience in later life. While a supportive and potentially rewarding role, informal care can become a time and emotionally demanding activity, which may hinder older adults’ quality of life. In a context of rising demand for informal carers, we investigated how caregiving states and transitions are linked to overall levels and changes in quality of life, and how the relationship varies according to care intensity and burden. We used fixed effects and change analyses to examine six-wave panel data (2008–2018) from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, n=5076; ages 50–74). The CASP-19 scale is used to assess both positive and negative aspects of older adults’ quality of life. Caregiving was related with lower levels of quality of life in a graded manner, with those providing more weekly hours and reporting greater burden experiencing larger declines. Two-year transitions corresponding to starting, ceasing and continuing care provision were associated with lower levels of quality of life, compared to continuously not caregiving. Starting and ceasing caregiving were associated with negative and positive changes in quality of life score, respectively, suggesting that cessation of care leads to improvements despite persistent lower overall levels of quality of life. Measures to reduce care burden or time spent providing informal care are likely to improve the quality of life of older people.

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Measures of health status and quality of life in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Rheumatology Module 3.0, Juvenile Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire (JAQQ), Paediatric Rheumatology Quality of Life Scale (P

Arthritis Care & Research ◽

10.1002/acr.20560 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 63 (S11) ◽

pp. S438-S445 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

A. C. Carle ◽

E. Morgan Dewitt ◽

M. Seid

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽

Health Status ◽

Life Questionnaire ◽

Quality Of Life Questionnaire ◽

Quality Of Life Inventory ◽

Quality Of Life Scale ◽

Life Scale ◽

Life Inventory

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Informal Caregiving and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Prospective Analyses from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)

Social Indicators Research ◽

10.1007/s11205-020-02473-x ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lawrence B. Sacco ◽

Stefanie König ◽

Hugo Westerlund ◽

Loretta G. Platts

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Older Adults ◽

Informal Care ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Later Life ◽

Continuing Care ◽

Informal Carers ◽

The Relationship ◽

Prospective Analyses

Abstract Providing unpaid informal care to someone who is ill or disabled is a common experience in later life. While a supportive and potentially rewarding role, informal care can become a time and emotionally demanding activity, which may hinder older adults’ quality of life. In a context of rising demand for informal carers, we investigated how caregiving states and transitions are linked to overall levels and changes in quality of life, and how the relationship varies according to care intensity and burden. We used fixed effects and change analyses to examine six-wave panel data (2008–2018) from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, n = 5076; ages 50–74). The CASP-19 scale is used to assess both positive and negative aspects of older adults’ quality of life. Caregiving was related with lower levels of quality of life in a graded manner, with those providing more weekly hours and reporting greater burden experiencing larger declines. Two-year transitions corresponding to starting, ceasing and continuing care provision were associated with lower levels of quality of life, compared to continuously not caregiving. Starting and ceasing caregiving were associated with negative and positive changes in quality of life score, respectively, suggesting that cessation of care leads to improvements despite persistent lower overall levels of quality of life. Measures to reduce care burden or time spent providing informal care are likely to improve the quality of life of older people.

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