Home › Research › End-of-life care
Scales to measure core outcomes for the quality of dementia care in home or residential aged care facilities: a rapid review
Tiet‐Hanh Dao‐Tran, Danelle Kenny, Alyssa Welch, Debbie Brittain, Karyn Lendich, Jane F. Thompson, Bronte Parkin, Jack Nunn et al.. BMJ Open, 2025-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
A total of 88 validated scales were identified. No scales measuring dignity, engagement in advance care planning, feeling safe and secure, hygiene or safety incidents were validated for people living with dementia. No scale was identified to measure the importance of relationships for people living with dementia, the formal carers' dementia-specific qualifications or the educational opportunities for informal carers. The review also describes the 50 recommended or validated scales. Several validated or recommended scales exist to measure core outcomes identified as important for assessing the quality of care provided to people living with dementia in routine care settings. This review offers COM-IC stakeholders and other potential users with information on the validated/recommended scales to measure these core outcomes.
Key findings
- A total of 88 validated scales were identified.
- No scales measuring dignity, engagement in advance care planning, feeling safe and secure, hygiene or safety incidents were validated for people living with dementia.
- No scale was identified to measure the importance of relationships for people living with dementia, the formal carers' dementia-specific qualifications or the educational opportunities for informal carers.
- The review also describes the 50 recommended or validated scales.
- Several validated or recommended scales exist to measure core outcomes identified as important for assessing the quality of care provided to people living with dementia in routine care settings.
Why it matters
This rapid review identified 88 validated scales but found no scales validated for people living with dementia measuring dignity, engagement in advance care planning, feeling safe and secure, hygiene or safety incidents. It concerns measurement tools for care quality, not a treatment or cure for Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Participants88
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMJ Open) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | BMJ Open: journal h-index 240 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 88 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 2 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Tracy Anne Comans: h-index 35 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | The University of Queensland: institution h-index 1,516 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41338649) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Dao‐Tran, T., Kenny, D., Welch, A., Brittain, D., Lendich, K., Thompson, J. F., et al. (2025). Scales to measure core outcomes for the quality of dementia care in home or residential aged care facilities: a rapid review. BMJ Open. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096517
Vancouver
Dao‐Tran T, Kenny D, Welch A, Brittain D, Lendich K, Thompson JF, et al. Scales to measure core outcomes for the quality of dementia care in home or residential aged care facilities: a rapid review. BMJ Open. 2025. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096517. PMID: 41338649.
BibTeX
@article{daotran2025-41338649,
author = {Dao‐Tran, Tiet‐Hanh and Kenny, Danelle and Welch, Alyssa and Brittain, Debbie and Lendich, Karyn and Thompson, Jane F. and Parkin, Bronte and Nunn, Jack and others},
title = {{Scales to measure core outcomes for the quality of dementia care in home or residential aged care facilities: a rapid review}},
journal = {BMJ Open},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096517},
pmid = {41338649},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096517}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 13.
Related studies in End-of-life care
Also tagged “care”
996 studies in the library carry the topic tag “care”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 996 tagged studies.