Quality of life levels in adults with intellectual disabilities from their perceptions and those of other informants.

The quality of life (QOL) is constituted as one of the key concepts to define the supports directed to the population with intellectual disabilities (ID). In addition to understanding the significant perceptions that people have about the QoL of the population with ID, it is currently necessary to complement this vision and involve people with ID themselves in the measurements of their QoL. This study seeks to know the QOL index of 95 Chilean adults with ID from their perceptions and those of other informants; and identify some of the variables that may be conditioning their QOL. To collect the information the INICO-FEAPS scale has been used. This scale is based on the QOL model of Schalock and Verdugo (2002/2003). The results show a considerable disagreement between the QOL reported by people with ID and that reported by other significant informants. When comparing the average QOL index according to the different variables using ANOVA, significant differences were found for both versions only attending to the degree of ID of the participants and the index associated with their needs for support. The results show that both the degree of ID and the level of needs supportive are good predictors of the QOL index. This research showed some suggestions that may be of interest to advance in the evaluation of the QOL of these population. For example, by identifying that the support needs index is a good predictor of QOL as well as the degree of ID, it is suggested to apply both instruments simultaneously, which will allow a better precision for the analysis of this construct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]