Activities of daily living and quality of life in persons with muscular dystrophy

The study concerns 77 adults with muscular dystrophy (mean age 49 years) in two counties in Sweden. The purpose was to investigate activities of daily living, quality of life and the relationship between these. Data collectio n was performed with "the Activity of Daily Living Staircase", "the Self-re port Activity of Daily Living" and the Quality of Life Profile. The results indicated that over half of the subjects were dependent on others, chiefly in activities requiring mobility. Muscular dystrophy had mostly negative c onsequences, and nearly half stated that life would have offered more witho ut it. Few significant diagnosis-related (no gender-related) differences em erged regarding activities of daily living and quality of life. Lower quali ty of life can only partly be explained by greater disability (r = 0.30-0.5 4). Therefore quality of life as a measurement of rehabilitation outcomes m ight be based both on physical status, disability and psychosocial factors in terms of positive and negative consequences.