Multiple sclerosis : clinical and laboratory research
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Measures of quality of life (QoL) are increasingly used to monitor psychological and social well being of clients with chronic illnesses. They are particularly useful in cases where an illness results in multiple disabilities. Where clients have difficulty completing the measure, others who know them may act as proxies. It is important, therefore to assess the accuracy of proxy scores. This study compared the QoL scores given by people with multiple sclerosis (PWMS) with proxy scores given by close relatives. ⋯ The level of agreement found between client and proxy scores and the tendency for proxies to underestimate clients' scores are consistent with research with other client groups. The overestimation by proxies of clients who rate their QoL as poor needs further investigation. If confirmed it may complicate the estimation of client scores from those of proxies. We conclude that while proxy scores may be useful as a means of estimating the QoL of groups of clients in research studies they should be used cautiously in the prediction of the QoL of individual clients at the clinical level.