The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Oct 2011
Predictors of family caregiver ratings of patient quality of life in Alzheimer disease: cross-sectional results from the Canadian Alzheimer's Disease Quality of Life Study.
To assess whether the core symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD) and caregiver factors consistently predict family caregiver ratings of patient quality of life (QOL) as assessed by a variety of QOL measures in a large national sample. ⋯ Caregiver ratings of patient function and depression were consistent independent predictors of caregiver-rated QOL, using a spectrum of QOL measures, while measures of patient cognition and caregiver burden and depression were not. These findings support the continued use of caregiver ratings as an important source of information about patient QOL and endorse the inclusion in AD clinical trials of caregiver-rated measures of patient function, depression, and QOL.