Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28088926›Full record

SynthesisInternational psychogeriatrics2017

Proxy rated quality of life of care home residents with dementia: a systematic review.

Sarah Robertson, Claudia Cooper, Juanita Hoe, Olivia Hamilton, Aisling Stringer, Gill Livingston

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International psychogeriatrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Trial
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  7. Exploring self-report and proxy-report quality-of-life measures for people living with dementia in care homes.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2020
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  8. Observational
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  11. Anticholinergic load and quality of life in Australian residential aged care: a retrospective cohort study.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2026
    Article
  12. The relative importance of key life domains for people with disability: findings from a cross-sectional survey of NDIS participants in Australia.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Sarah RobertsonDivision of Psychiatry,University College London (UCL),6Floor Maple House,W1T 7NF,London,UK.
Claudia CooperDivision of Psychiatry,University College London (UCL),6Floor Maple House,W1T 7NF,London,UK.
Juanita HoeDivision of Psychiatry,University College London (UCL),6Floor Maple House,W1T 7NF,London,UK.
Olivia HamiltonDivision of Psychiatry,University College London (UCL),6Floor Maple House,W1T 7NF,London,UK.
Aisling StringerDivision of Psychiatry,University College London (UCL),6Floor Maple House,W1T 7NF,London,UK.
Gill LivingstonDivision of Psychiatry,University College London (UCL),6Floor Maple House,W1T 7NF,London,UK.

Funding

Department of Health
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundQuality of life (QoL) is an important outcome for people with dementia living in care homes but usually needs to be rated by a proxy. We do not know if relative or paid carer proxy reports differ. We conducted the first systematic review and meta-analysis of data investigating whether and how these proxy reports of QoL differ.

methodsWe searched four databases: Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, and CINAHL in October 2015 with the terms: dementia, QoL, proxy, and care home. Included studies either compared proxy QoL ratings or investigated the factors associated with them. We meta-analyzed data comparing staff and family proxy rated QoL.

resultsWe included 17/105 papers identified. We found no difference between global proxy ratings of QoL (n = 1,290; pooled effect size 0.06 (95% CI = -0.08 to 0.19)). Studies investigating factors associated with ratings (n = 3,537) found family and staff ratings correlated with the resident's physical and mental health. Staff who were more distressed rated resident QoL lower. Relatives rated it lower when the resident had lived in the care home for longer, when they observed more restraint, or contributed more to fees.

conclusionsRelatives and staff proxy QoL ratings share a clear relationship to resident health and overall ratings were similar. Rater-specific factors were, however, also associated with scores. Understanding why different raters consider the QoL of the same person differently is an important consideration when evaluating the meaning of proxy rated QoL. Proxy raters' backgrounds may affect their rating of QoL.

Indexed as

CaregiversProxyActivities of Daily LivingDementiaHumansNursing HomesPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesQuality of LifeSeverity of Illness Indexcarersdementianursing homesquality of life

Identifiers

PMID28088926
PMCPMC5964456

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.