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Background: Depression is a prevalent and disabling condition in older persons (≥60 years) that increases the risk of mortality and negatively influences quality

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Depression and Quality of Life in Older Persons: A Review

This new edition of Ann Bowling's well-known and highly respected text has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect key methodological developments in health research. It is a comprehensive, easy to read, guide to the range of methods used to study and evaluate health and health services. It describes the concepts and methods used by the main disciplines involved in health research, including: demography, epidemiology, health economics, psychology and sociology.The research methods described cover the assessment of health needs, morbidity and mortality trends and rates, costing health services, sampling for survey research, cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design, experimental methods and techniques of group assignment, questionnaire design, interviewing techniques, coding and analysis of quantitative data, methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies, and types of unstructured interviewing. With new material on topics such as cluster randomization, utility analyses, patients' preferences, and perception of risk, the text is aimed at students and researchers of health and health services. It has also been designed for health professionals and policy makers who have responsibility for applying research findings in practice, and who need to know how to judge the value of that research.

Research Methods in Health. Investigating health and health services

Evaluating Model Fit

Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy.

The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Polish WHOQOL - Bref in a sample of 908 respondents. The Bref is a generic quality of life (QoL) instrument designed for cross - cultural use. Correlational and multivariate analyses confirmed the relevancy of individual items and domains supporting the construct validity of the scale. Multiple regression analyses of the domain scores with two overall questions (dependent variable) showed that all four domains made a significant contribution in explaining the variance in overall QoL. The psychological domain made the strongest contribution (unstandardized B coefficient = 0.10, r2 = 0.41), followed by the social, environmental and physical domains. When overall health satisfaction was considered as the dependent variable, the physical domain contributed most strongly (unstandardized B coefficient = 0.21, r2= 0.43) followed by the psychological and environmental domains. Exploratory factor analyses resulted in a four factors solution with 24 items explaining 49.6% of the cumulative variance. Confirmatory factor analyses lended marginal support for the goodness of fit of the four-domain model. The physical domain was found to be strongest in differentiating between unhealthy and healthy subjects, followed by psychological and social domains. Acceptable internal consistency was shown with Cronbach's alpha coefficients being greater than 0.70 for all domains with the exception of the social domain. Further exploration of the scales validity and conceptual clarity need further testing in Polish and international samples.

Quality of life in Polish respondents: psychometric properties of the Polish WHOQOL-Bref.

Instruments with acceptable measurement properties that support their application to older adults across a range of settings need to be identified. A narrative literature review of empirical studies investigating the conceptualization and measurement of quality of life (QoL) among older adults from 1994 to 2006 was performed. The review focused on evidence provided for conceptual frameworks, QoL definitions, types of measurements utilized and their psychometric properties. Two searches were conducted. The first search conducted in 2004 used Cinahl, Medline, PsycInfo, Embase and Cochrane databases. A supplemental search was conducted in December 2006, which included these bases from 2004 to 2006, and Sociological Abstracts and Anthropological literature base. The review included 47 papers. A total of 40 different measurements were applied in the studies, assessing most frequently functional status and symptoms. The most extensive psychometric evidence was documented for the SF-36. Although construct validity was reported in the majority of studies, minimal empirical evidence was given for other psychometric properties. Further, 87% of the studies lacked a conceptual framework and 55% did not report any methodological considerations related to older adults. Quality control standards, which can guide measurement assessment and subsequent data interpretation, are needed to enhance more consistent reporting of the psychometric properties of QoL instruments utilized. Future work on the development of common QoL assessment models that are both person-centered, causal and multidimensional based on collaborative efforts from professionals interested in QoL from the international gerontological research community are needed.

The conceptualization and measurement of quality of life in older adults: a review of empirical studies published during 1994-2006.

Purpose
To describe the relative importance of 38 facets of quality of life (QOL) to older adults in 22 countries, by gender, age group, and health status.

The importance of facets of quality of life to older adults: an international investigation.

BACKGROUND: there is limited research examining the relative importance of aspects of quality of life (QOL) to older adults across cultures. OBJECTIVE: to examine the relative importance of 31 internationally agreed areas of QOL to older adults in 22 countries in relation to health status, age and level of economic development. DESIGN: a survey quota sampling design was used to collect cross-cultural data. This study reports a secondary analysis of WHOQOL-OLD pilot study, which was collected simultaneously in 22 centres. Settings: a variety of community, primary, secondary and tertiary health care settings located in Australia, France, Switzerland, England, Scotland, USA, Israel, Spain, Japan, China (mainland and Hong Kong), Turkey, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Brazil and Uruguay. Participants: the total sample contained 7,401 people over 60 years with a mean age of 73.1 years; 57.8% were women and 70.1% considered themselves 'healthy'. RESULTS: there were significant differences in the importance given to various aspects of QOL for people living in medium and high-development countries. Culture explained 15.9% of the variance in the importance ratings of QOL. However, the interaction showed that cultural differences were reduced once health status, gender and age were taken into account. The importance of QOL to age bands in different cultures was not significantly affected by whether or not participants perceived themselves to be healthy. CONCLUSION: understanding the self-reported importance of diverse aspects of QOL for different cultures and for healthy and less healthy people may assist national and international policy makers to decide on priorities for the development of programmes for the ageing population.

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Comparing the importance of different aspects of quality of life to older adults across diverse cultures

The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the WHOQOL–BREF, a generic quality of life scale, among older people in Canada and Norway. Very similar data from the Canadian and Norwegian Field Trial data (Canada n = 192; Norway, n = 469) were analyzed and compared. Higher negatively skewed mean scores were found for all WHOQOL–BREF domains in Canada. For both study samples, missing values were highest for the sex item from the social domain. Ceiling effects were found (Canada n = 21; Norway n = 11) primarily among items in the physical and environmental domains. In both study samples, a multitrait multimethod procedure indicated items correlated most strongly with their parent domains; however, equally appreciable correlations were observed between physical, psychological, and environmental items (r = 0.33–0.64; p < 0.01). The social domain had the lowest internal consistency (α = 0.67 Canada, α = 0.55 Norway). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) yielded marginal goodness-of-fit between the hypothesized WHOQOL–BREF measurement model and the sample data as well as differing patterns of domain misspecification. Patterns of correlations (p < 0.01) of WHOQOL–BREF domains with WHOQOL–OLD facets, a global QOL item, the SF-12, and the geriatric depression scale provided evidence of convergent and divergent validity. Domain scores also significantly discriminated between health and unhealthy populations and presence of morbidity. Empirical support was found, in part, for the construct validity of the WHOQOL–BREF in older adults. Despite some different patterns found in the CFA, possibly due to cultural or sampling differences, it appears that the instrument is reliable, valid, and facilitates cross-cultural comparisons.

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Mary Kalfoss

Papers

Quality of life in Polish respondents: psychometric properties of the Polish WHOQOL-Bref.

The conceptualization and measurement of quality of life in older adults: a review of empirical studies published during 1994-2006.

The importance of facets of quality of life to older adults: an international investigation.

Comparing the importance of different aspects of quality of life to older adults across diverse cultures

The suitability of the WHOQOL–BREF for Canadian and Norwegian older adults