Premium
‘Not knowing where I am doesn't mean I don't know what I like’: cognitive impairment and quality of life responses in elderly people
Author(s) -
Mozley Caroline Godlove,
Huxley Peter,
Sutcliffe Caroline,
Bagley Heather,
Burns Alistair,
Challis David,
Cordingley Lis
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199909)14:9<776::aid-gps13>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - psychology , recall , cognition , interview , quality of life (healthcare) , orientation (vector space) , gerontology , rating scale , cognitive impairment , mini–mental state examination , psychiatry , developmental psychology , medicine , cognitive psychology , sociology , geometry , mathematics , psychotherapist , anthropology
Objective To elucidate the extent to which elderly people with cognitive impairment are able to answer questions about their quality of life. Design and setting 308 elderly residents were interviewed within 2 weeks of admission to one of 30 residential or nursing homes in north‐west England. Measures The Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (Residential) (LQOLP(R)), the Crichton Royal Behaviour Rating Scale (CRBRS) and the HONOS‐65+. Results Of the 308 subjects, LQOLP(R) interviews were attempted with 213 who scored 10 or over on the MMSE. Of the 213, 77.5% were found to be ‘interviewable’, ie able to answer the majority of questions in the LQOLP(R) and in doing so to give answers in which the interviewer had confidence. Of the seven cognitive domains measured by the MMSE, visual construction and registration were not significantly associated with interviewability. While orientation to time and recall were significantly associated with interviewability, many interviewable respondents had poor scores in these domains. No respondents were interviewable who scored less than 2 (out of 5) for orientation to place or less than 3 (out of 8) for language or less than 2 (out of 5) for attention. Conclusions A high proportion of elderly people can answer questions about their quality of life, even in the presence of significant cognitive deficits. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.