Quality of Life in Dementia: Impact of Cognition and Insight on Applicability of the SF-36

Comparability of measures of quality of life in dementia and in other diagnostic groups, such as mild cognitive impairment, normal aging, or other diseases, is highly desirable. However, the impact of cognitive deficits and impaired insight on applicability and validity of generic instruments is sparsely studied.Sixty patients with dementia [38 women; age: mean (SD) = 78.7 (6.4) years; Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE): mean (SD) = 20.2 (6.0)] recruited as part of the start-modem study, a multicenter care research study in Germany, completed the generic instrument SF-36 and the specific instrument Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease (QOL-AD).QOL-AD self-rating scores [mean (SD) = 32.8 (5…