Health-related quality of life in elderly, multimorbid individuals with and without depression and/or mild cognitive impairment using a telemonitoring application

Abstract

Purpose Multimorbidity leads to decreasing health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Telemedicine may help to improve HRQoL. The present study was conducted to show (I) differences in HRQoL and changes in HRQoL over time in elderly, multimorbid individuals with and without depression and/or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using a telemonitoring application (TMA) and (II) associations between engagement with measurements by study participants using a TMA and changes in their HRQoL. Methods The present feasibility study was part of a longitudinal intervention study. Recruited general practitioners (GPs) enrolled individuals and assigned them to risk groups according to absence/presence of depression and/or MCI. Depression was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), MCI using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and HRQoL using the SF-12. The TMA consisted of tablets, software, and measuring devices. Measured vital data were transferred to a care and case manager for monitoring and possible intervention. Results Nine GPs recruited 177 individuals, 97 of whom were included in the HRQoL analysis. Significantly lower physical and mental component summary (PCS/MCS) scores were revealed in study participants with depression, and with both depression and MCI, compared to participants with no mental disorders. PCS scores did not differ between study dates, but MCS scores had significantly increased over time. Participants’ engagement with measurements was significantly associated with an increased MCS score, but not with the PCS score. Discussion Depression and/or MCI are negatively associated with the HRQoL of elderly, multimorbid people using a TMA. Engagement of individuals with vital data measurements via a TMA may increase their mental HRQoL. Mentally impaired people should be closely involved as co-designers and experts in development processes of TMAs to benefit from tailored solutions. An individual’s increased mental HRQoL can be a decisive factor in their engagement with a GP treatment regimen and telemonitoring processes.

Multimorbidity and health-related quality of life among patients attending chronic outpatient medical care in Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia: The application of partial proportional odds model

“…However, most of them were conducted in high-income countries and the tools employed to measure QoL among people living with multimorbidity have not been consistent [40]. Some studies in high-income countries used Euro QoL (EQ-5D-5l) [41,42], while others used either WHOQOL brief [40] or SF-36 [40,43] or SF-12 tools [40,[44][45][46]. Although the use of all of these tools has been widespread, the short form (SF-12) version is an efficient algorism to reproduce SF-36 tool to measure health related quality of life [47].…”

Predictors of poor health‐related quality of life among people living with HIV aged ≥60 years in the PISCIS cohort: Findings from the Vive+ project

“…In the case of depression, although it is strongly correlated with the psychological domains of HRQoL, there is evidence that it also impacts the physical domains [34‐36]. Lang et al showed similar results in older people living with HIV, correlating depression and mild cognitive impairment with poor PCS and MCS [37]. Unfortunately, our results did not show that higher levels of depressive symptoms correlated with a worse PCS or that decreased cognitive function correlated with MCS in people living with HIV aged ≥60 years.…”

“…Although younger populations could benefit from socioeconomic and clinical interventions, our results showed that the HRQoL of older people living with HIV only correlated with depression, social role, and cognitive function. Therefore, it might be more important to offer social and mental health support to these people as these are the main factors related to their overall wellbeing [37].…”

Older Adults’ Quality of Life in Long-Term Care: A Cross-Sectional Comparison Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement QoL represents the subjective and perceived health status of an individual, and encompasses multiple items related to one's physical, psychological, and social well-being (Mortada, Salem, Elseifi, & Khalil, 2018). It is frequently measured using deficit-oriented measures, such as functional decline (Edvardsson et al, 2019), and it is monitored to determine and address the respective needs of individuals and to improve decision-making in health care settings (Lang et al, 2021).…”

“…It has been reported that more than 75 per cent of older adults live with one or more chronic diseases (Canadian Medical Association, 2016). Frailty is highly prevalent among older adults admitted to LTC, and quality of life (QoL) has been recognized as an important indicator for health outcomes of LTC residents (Kehyayan et al, 2015; Lang, Roessler, Schmitt, Bergmann, & Holthoff-Detto, 2021).…”