[Factors associated with the quality of life in people with dementia living in a nursing home].

Aim: To explore the factors associated with the quality of life among institutionalized elderly people with dementia.

Methods: The subjects included 68 elderly patients with dementia who had lived in a nursing home for at least three consecutive months. The Japanese version of the Quality of Life in Late-stage Dementia (QUALID-J) scale was used to measure the quality of life (QOL). In addition, information on their backgrounds, as well as physical, psychological, and social data, were collected. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients between the QUALID-J scores and each data point were calculated. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was conducted using the QUALID-J score as the dependent variable, and variables identified as significant in the correlation analysis as independent variables.

Results: The following factors were identified as being significantly correlated with the QUALID-J: the number of comorbidities, BMI, grip strength, calf circumference, eating pattern, Barthel Index (BI), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home result, communication level on the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, Mini-Mental State Examination, the number of days in the facility, the frequency of visitors, the number of times in which the subject positively participated in leisure activities, and the total number of times the subject participated in leisure activities. BI, the total number of times the subject participated in leisure activities, grip strength, and CDR were included in the multiple regression analysis model as independent variables.

Conclusion: Higher BI values (ADL), stronger grip strength (muscle force), greater participation in leisure activities, and lower CDR scores (severity of dementia) were associated with a higher QOL.