doi:10.1017/S1041610208008399 Printed in the United Kingdom Evaluations of end of life with dementia by families in Dutch and U.S. nursing homes

Background: The End-of-Life in Dementia (EOLD) scales comprise the most specific set of instruments developed for evaluations of patients ’ end of life by their families. It is not known whether the EOLD scales are useful for cross-national comparisons. Methods:We used a mortality follow-back design in multi-center studies in the Netherlands (pilot study 2005– 2007) and the U.S.A. (1999), and we compared EOLD Satisfaction With Care (SWC; last three months of life), Symptom Management (SM; last three months) and Comfort Assessment in Dying (CAD) scores for 54 Dutch and 76 U.S. nursing home residents. Results: SWC total scores did not differ significantly between the Dutch and U.S. studies (31.9, SD 4.7 versus 30.4, SD 6.1), but three of ten items were rated more favorable for Dutch residents, as were SM total score