Differences in quality of life of people visiting a memory clinic: Influences of sex, stage, diagnosis, anxiety, depression, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility and coping style

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate differences in QoL between males and females visiting a memory clinic. Knowledge about determinants of QoL is limited, especially from patients' own perspective. We examined whether there was a relationship between sex and QoL in patients in different stages and with different types of dementia taken together (total sample), whether this relationship existed within patient groups of specific stages or types of dementia separately and whether this relationship in the total sample was mediated by anxiety, depression, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility and/or coping style. Methods: In total, 375 patients aged between 32 and 82 years, who visited the memory clinic and who completed an 88-item self-reported questionnaire, were included in the study. Linear regressions were performed to assess the relationship between sex and QoL and whether stage and type of dementia affect this relationship. In addition, we performed...Show moreBackground: The aim of this study is to investigate differences in QoL between males and females visiting a memory clinic. Knowledge about determinants of QoL is limited, especially from patients' own perspective. We examined whether there was a relationship between sex and QoL in patients in different stages and with different types of dementia taken together (total sample), whether this relationship existed within patient groups of specific stages or types of dementia separately and whether this relationship in the total sample was mediated by anxiety, depression, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility and/or coping style. Methods: In total, 375 patients aged between 32 and 82 years, who visited the memory clinic and who completed an 88-item self-reported questionnaire, were included in the study. Linear regressions were performed to assess the relationship between sex and QoL and whether stage and type of dementia affect this relationship. In addition, we performed mediation analyses to assess whether anxiety, depression, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility and/or coping styles mediate the relationship between sex and QoL. In all our analyses, age and education were added as covariates. We corrected for multiple testing using False Discovery Rate (FDR). Results: Sex was not associated with QoL (p = .160) in the total sample. Sex was also not associated with QoL within the different stages (CN p = .847, MCI p = .688 and dementia p = .688), or within different types of dementia (FTD p = .895, AD p = .809 and other types of dementia p = .895). Our mediation analyses showed that only anxiety was a significant mediator in the relationship between sex and QoL (p = .010). Conclusion: In our study, there was no relationship between sex and QoL. For patients trying to maintain or improve their QoL, it is important to be aware of the factors that play an important role in QoL.Show less

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Differences in quality of life of people visiting a memory clinic: Influences of sex, stage, diagnosis, anxiety, depression, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility and coping style