Assessment of the Quality of Life in Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 26(4); 2008 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 2008;26(4): 308-313.

알츠하이머병 환자에서의 삶의 질 평가

김희진, 문소영b 김상윤c 한설희d,e

한양대학교의과대학a, 충북대학교병원b, 분당서울대학교병원c, 건국대학교의학전문대학원d,건국대학교생명과학원 노인성신경질환연구센터e

Assessment of the Quality of Life in Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease

Hee-Jin Kim

Department of Neurology, Hanyang University College of Medicinea, Department of Neurology, Chungbuk National University Hospitalb, Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospitalc, Department of Neurology, Konkuk University College of Medicined, Center for Geriatric Neuroscience Research, IBST, Konkuk Universitye

Abstract

Backgrounds: Evaluating quality of life (QoL) in people with dementia has become increasingly valued, especially in assessing the effectiveness of interventions or making treatment decisions. However, limited information exists regarding dementia patients’ QoL in Korea. The aim of our investigation was to determine if the severity of dementia could affect the QoL of patients with dementia and the relationship between QoL score and the scores of other cognitive domains, especially, the attention.
Methods: Two hundred and sixty eight subjects with varying degree of cognitive dysfunction underwent assessment of Korean-Mini Mental Status Examination (K-MMSE), digit span, trail making test (TMT), Korean-Instrumental Activity Daily Living (K-IADL), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR), attention and their QoL using standardized neuropsychological tests and questionnaires. We administered the QoL in Alzheimer’s disease (QoL-AD) scale and attention questionnaire to the subjects.
Results: QoL-AD score had a positive correlation with K-MMSE score (r=0.38, p<0.0001) while it showed a negative correlation with GDS (r=-0.62 p<0.0001). QoL-AD score also showed a significant correlation with attention status of the patients with dementia (r=0.48, p<0.0001). QoL-AD score for patient appeared to be affected by educational factors.
Conclusions: QoL-AD may be used as an effective tool to assess QoL as well as cognitive functions of patients with varying degree of dementia. KeyWords:Alzheimer’s disease, Attention