Self-reported quality of life ratings of people with dementia: the role of attitudes to aging

Trigg, Richard; Watts, Simon; Jones, Roy; Tod, Anne; Elliman, Rachel

doi:10.1017/s1041610212000038

Cited by 38 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A large study of community-dwelling older adults in Australia using postal questionnaires including the AAQ (Bryant et al, 2012) found that more positive attitudes in the domains of Psychosocial Loss and Physical Change were associated with better physical health. People with dementia more strongly endorse the negative attitude that aging is a time of psychosocial loss than people without dementia, impacting on QoL (Trigg et al, 2012). This may be due to partial confounding by socio-demographic factors (Bryant et al, 2012) or health-related behaviors (Quinn et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life course influences of physical and cognitive function and personality on attitudes to aging in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Shenkin

Laidlaw

Allerhand

et al. 2014

Int. Psychogeriatr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Reports of attitudes to aging from older people themselves are scarce. Which life course factors predict differences in these attitudes is unknown. Methods: We investigated life course influences on attitudes to aging in healthy, community-dwelling people in the UK. Participants in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 completed a self-report questionnaire (Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire, AAQ) at around age 75 (n = 792, 51.4% male). Demographic, social, physical, cognitive, and personality/mood predictors were assessed, around age 70. Cognitive ability data were available at age 11. Results: Generally positive attitudes were reported in all three domains: low Psychosocial Loss, high Physical Change, and high Psychological Growth. Hierarchical multiple regression found that demographic, cognitive, and physical variables each explained a relatively small proportion of the variance in attitudes to aging, with the addition of personality/mood variables contributing most significantly. Predictors of attitudes to Psychosocial Loss were high neuroticism; low extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness; high anxiety and depression; and more physical disability. Predictors of attitudes to Physical Change were: high extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness; female sex; social class; and less physical disability. Personality predictors of attitudes to Psychological Growth were similar. In contrast, less affluent environment, living alone, lower vocabulary scores, and slower walking speed predicted more positive attitudes in this domain. Conclusions: Older people's attitudes to aging are generally positive. The main predictors of attitude are personality traits. Influencing social circumstances, physical well-being, or mood may result in more positive attitudes. Alternatively, interventions to influence attitudes may have a positive impact on associated physical and affective changes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life course influences of physical and cognitive function and personality on attitudes to aging in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Shenkin

Laidlaw

Allerhand

et al. 2014

Int. Psychogeriatr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It has been suggested that the attitude to ageing and dementia and suggested that negative stereotypes of dementia should be challenged. 57 One recent study found a weak association between HRQoL self-ratings and carer-ratings in a cross-sectional study and observed that awareness of memory function was the strongest association with self-ratings, whereas activities in daily living function and enjoyment of activities were significantly associated with carer-ratings. 58 …”

Section: Interpretation Of the Findingsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Determining the Predictors of Change in Quality of Life Self-ratings and Carer-ratings for Community-dwelling People With Alzheimer Disease

Bosboom

Alfonso

Almeida

2013

Alzheimer Disease &Amp; Associated Disorders

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this study was to determine the factors that mediate changes in Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) ratings by community-dwelling people with Alzheimer disease (AD) and carers over a period of 18 months. We completed an 18-month longitudinal study of 80 community-dwelling older adults diagnosed with probable AD of mild or moderate severity (NINCDS-ADRD criteria) and their family carers. The primary outcome of interest was the 18-month change in HRQoL ratings as measured with the Quality of Life-AD (QoL-AD) (by carer and by self). Explanatory variables included demographics, lifestyle, cognition, awareness, psychopathology, burden-of-care, use of medication, and functionality in daily life. We found a significant decline (8.7%, P=0.003) in QoL-AD carer-ratings, but not in self-ratings. The final parsimonious model of predictors of changes in QoL-AD self-ratings explained 22.6% of the variance; only changes on Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Anxiety retained significance. The final model of predictors of changes in carer-ratings explained 55.0% of the variance: that is, changes on Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly, changes on Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression, practicing hobbies at 18 months, and number of visit(s) or admission(s) to hospital. HRQoL self-ratings and carer-ratings of community-dwelling people with AD do not decline at same rate over 18 months and changes are associated with different factors. Interventions designed to optimize quality of life of people with AD should consider carefully whose HRQoL ratings they wish to change.

show abstract

“…Previous studies have reported that HQOL scores rated by patients in early stages of dementia are one of the important predictors of their memory impairments when these are not consistent with the HQOL scores rated by other people, or when emotionally negative attitudes towards aging are apparent in subjective HQOL scores (Trigg et al, 2011;Trigg, Watts, Jones, Tod, & Elliman, 2012). This suggests that understanding their own conditions of health and informing other people about these conditions could reflect intact cognitive functions.…”

Section: Health-related Qol and Cognitive Functionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-Related Qol and Lifestyles Are Associated With Cognitive Functions in Elderly People

Takada

Park

Shigemune

et al. 2014

PSYCHOLOGIA -An International Journal of Psychological Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Human cognitive functions are associated with health conditions and lifestyles in daily living. However, little is known about how cognitive functions in healthy elderly people are correlated with their health conditions and daily lifestyles. This study investigated this issue. The study involved 85 healthy older adults, who were examined for memory and frontal-lobe functions. Additionally, their subjective health-related QOL (HQOL) and lifestyles were assessed, including the physical, intellectual, and social activities in daily lives. This study yielded three main findings. First, HQOL scores were positively correlated with scores for memory and frontal-lobe tasks. Second, older adults whose daily lives included moderate physical activity showed better memory functions than those with high and low levels of physical activity. Third, participants who engaged in a higher frequency of intellectual and social activities had better memory and frontal-lobe functions. Individual differences in subjective health condition and lifestyles could predict cognitive abilities in elderly.

show abstract

Self-reported quality of life ratings of people with dementia: the role of attitudes to aging

Cited by 38 publications

References 26 publications

Life course influences of physical and cognitive function and personality on attitudes to aging in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Life course influences of physical and cognitive function and personality on attitudes to aging in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Determining the Predictors of Change in Quality of Life Self-ratings and Carer-ratings for Community-dwelling People With Alzheimer Disease

Health-Related Qol and Lifestyles Are Associated With Cognitive Functions in Elderly People

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About