Development of the Dementia Quality of Life questionnaire (D-QOL): UK version

The importance of using quality of life measures for clinical practice and research in dementia is well established. Quality of life being people's perception of their position in life in context of their culture, hence the need for developing culturally sensitive quality of life measures. This study aimed at producing the UK version of the US Dementia-Quality of Life (D-QOL), a validated instrument for measuring quality of life in people with mild to moderate dementia. The study was conducted in three stages--adaptation, piloting and validation. In the adaptation stage, the US D-QOL was translated by a panel comprising lay people and researchers. In the piloting stage the draft was tested by administering it to fifteen patients with dementia and their feedback on acceptability, relevance and clarity. In the validation stage, 36 patients with mild to moderate dementia were administered UK D-QOL on two occasions with an interval of two weeks. The results showed that the UK version of D-QOL has comparable psychometric properties to the US version. We conclude that the UK version of D-QOL is a reliable and valid measure of quality of life in UK population with mild to moderate dementia.