The EORTC Quality of Life Core Questionnaire QLQ-C30 is widely used, but no reference values are available for patients receiving HSCT. We retrieved data for 38 samples from 33 papers in English and German that provided evaluable information on QLQ-C30 scores (mean, s.d.) covering about 2800 patients. Results are presented as a table that provides reference data that allow QLQ-C30 scores at different points during the disease trajectory to be put in context. With respect to their central tendency and their variance, scores vary over time. Quality of life is lowest during inpatient time. About 1 year after HSCT, the pre-transplant level is reached. Physical functioning is the scale reaching the highest level of all scales. Fatigue, dyspnoea and insomnia are symptoms that remain at an elevated level and should thus be considered as persisting problems after HSCT. For the interpretation of differences between scores, a very conservative recommendation would be to set the s.d. at 30 points. Doing so, one could be quite sure of having found a clinically significant change if the difference of two scores exceeds 15 points. Differences below 5 points should be interpreted with caution.

No abstract

The "Questionnaire for Assessing Subjective Physical Well-Being" by Kolip and Schmidt is examined using data drawn from a nationally representative survey of 573 former East and 1900 former West Germans. In this non-clinical sample the construct "subjective physical well-being" assessed by the "Questionnaire for Assessing Subjective Physical Well-Being" seems to have just one dimension. As women and probands with growing age score lower for "subjective physical well-being" a differentiated standardization was done for gender and age. Connections between "subjective physical well-being" and body-image assessed by the "Body Image Questionnaire" (FKB-20), quality of life ("EURO-HIS-QOL"), and questions for concerns about financial situation, family and health give hints for validity of the questionnaire.

Depression is probably not a simple indicator of a worse health status. Further research is needed to decide if depression must be considered as an independent risk factor for survival when diagnosed in the pre-transplant period.