Two studies from University of Minnesota researchers found resident-reported quality of life, including those with dementia, are typically reliable and should be included in nursing home report cards to allow consumers to make more-informed decisions about care.
The most recent study, published Jan. 12 in the Journal of Aging and Social Policy, examined the general reliability of quality-of-life data over a yearlong period. The second study, published July 12 in Innovation In Aging, used data from residents with Alzheimer’s and related dementia to examine year-to-year stability.
"Minnesota is one of two states in the nation to have validated QOL data, and there have been many calls for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to include quality of life in its report card, but the typical response is that we don’t have enough data on how reliable it is as a measure," Tetyana Shippee, PhD, leader of the two studies, said in a news release. “This new research shows that overall QOL data is reliable and stable over time.”