VALIDITY OF THE QUALITY OF WELL-BEING SCALE FOR PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

The Quality of Well-Being (QWB) Scale is a utility-weighted measure of health-related quality of life that can be used in clinical trials, p opulation studies, and cost/utility analyses. This article reports evi dence for the validity of the QWB in patients with Alzheimer's disease . The subjects were 211 patient-spouse dyads and control dyads recruit ed from the University of California, San Diego, Alzheimer's Disease R esearch Center (ADRC) and from community referrals. Among these, three quarters were patients, and one quarter were age-and gender-matched c ontrols. Patient data were obtained by caregiver proxy. Analyses demon strated that the QWB was strongly associated with dementia ratings and behavioral problems. Caretakers of patients with low QWB scores also reported using more respite time. The authors conclude that the genera l QWB score allows data from Alzheimer's disease studies to be used in comparative cost/utility analysis.