This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kazui, H. Articles by Takeda, M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Kazui, H. Articles by Takeda, M. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Association Between Quality of Life of Demented Patients and Professional Knowledge of Care Workers

Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan, kazui{at}psy.med.osaka-u.ac.jp

Kazuyoshi Harada, MD, PhD

Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan, Harada Hospital, 9-8 Furukawa-cho, Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Yoko S. Eguchi

Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Ichikawa General Hospital, Tokyo Dental College

Hiromasa Tokunaga, MD, PhD

Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

Hidetoshi Endo, MD, PhD

Department of Comprehensive Geriatric Medicine, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 36-3 Gengo, Morioka-machi, Obu City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

Masatoshi Takeda, MD, PhD

Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

Professional knowledge about dementia and care methods is necessary for the appropriate care of demented people. In this study, the quality of life of 91 demented people staying at 12 care institutions was evaluated with the Quality of Life Questionnaire for Dementia (QOL-D). The amount of professional knowledge was evaluated in 140 staff members who took care of the patients using the professional knowledge test (PKT), and the mean PKT score was cal culated for each institution (professional knowledge of institution). A positive significant correlation was observed between the QOL-D score and the pro fessional knowledge of institution. The correlation remained significant when age, sex, and severity of dementia of demented patients were partialled out. This result indicated that the quality of life of demented people was better at institutions with staff members having more professional knowledge, indicating the importance of education of staff members and the possibility that such education improves the quality of life of the demented people.

Key Words: dementia • care service • care institute • education

Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, Vol. 21, No. 1, 72-78 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/8925320607311562


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?