Psychometric properties of the ICECAP-O quality of life measurement tool when self-reported by community-dwelling older people with mild and moderate dementia.

Abstract

To evaluate interventions designed to improve the quality of life of people with dementia (PWD), there is a need for psychometrically validated instruments. We tested the psychometric properties of the ICEpop CAPability measure for Older people (ICECAP-O) as a self-report measure of quality of life with PWD. We used data from a randomised controlled trial of Tai Chi with 83 community-dwelling older people with mild and moderate dementia. The ICECAP-O was found to be valid with correlations in the expected directions for fear of falls (r = -0.36, p = 0.001) and age (r = 0.12, p = 0.29), sensitive to change (mean difference = 0.051, p = 0.04, d = 0.51), and have an adequate factorial structure. The ICECAP-O is a valid, generic measure of quality of life for use with PWD without a proxy.