Predictors of quality of life in carers for people with a progressive neurological illness: a longitudinal study

<b>Purpose</b> The aim of the present research was to determine the predictors of quality of life (QOL) among carers for people living with a chronic degenerative neurological illness, with comparisons of the differences in significant predictors of QOL between illness groups.<br /><b>Methods</b> Psychosocial and economic variables were examined among 192 carers for people living at home with motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s, over a twelve-month period, to determine their contribution to the prediction of carer QOL.<br /><b>Results</b> Mood was the only consistent predictor of carer QOL across groups; however, marital relationship satisfaction, social support satisfaction, income, and economic pressure significantly predicted carer QOL for at least one of the illness groups, in addition to mood.<br /><b>Conclusions</b> The findings highlight the importance of recognising the varying roles that psychosocial and economic variables play on the prediction of carer QOL within each of these illness groups.<br />