Quality of life measurement: bibliographic study of patient assessed health outcome measures

Abstract

Objectives To assess the growth of quality of life measures and to examine the availability of measures across specialties. Design Systematic searches of electronic databases to identify developmental and evaluative work relating to health outcome measures assessed by patients. Main outcome measures Types of measures: disease or population specific, dimension specific, generic, individualised, and utility. Specialties in which measures have been developed and evaluated. Results 3921 reports that described the development and evaluation of patient assessed measures met the inclusion criteria. Of those that were classifiable, 1819 (46%) were disease or population specific, 865 (22%) were generic, 690 (18%) were dimension specific, 409 (10%) were utility, and 62 (1%) were individualised measures. During 1990-9 the number of new reports of development and evaluation rose from 144 to 650 per year. Reports of disease specific measures rose exponentially. Over 30% of evaluations were in cancer, rheumatology and musculoskeletal disorders, and older people's health. The generic measures-SF-36, sickness impact profile, and Nottingham health profile-accounted for 612 (16%) reports. Conclusions In some specialties there are numerous measures of quality of life and little standardisation. Primary research through the concurrent evaluation of measures and secondary research through structured reviews of measures are prerequisites for standardisation. Recommendations for the selection of patient assessed measures of health outcome are needed.

Social integration: an important factor for health-related quality of life after critical illness

“…The instrument is internationally well known and has often been used [25]. SF-36 has previously been applied in intensive care [6,[26][27][28], and has recently been recommended as one of the best-suited instrument for measuring HRQoL in trials in critical care [29].…”

Calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en una muestra de médicos internos residentes que realizan guardias en un Servicio de Urgencias: una perspectiva de género

“…Actualmente, la forma más estandarizada para su evaluación ha sido el cuestionario ShortForm Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36®) 3 . Sus propiedades de medida han sido analizadas en numerosas publicaciones, además de contar con una versión española validada y baremada [4][5][6] . Este cuestionario resulta útil tanto en la evaluación de la percepción de salud de poblaciones generales como de subgrupos específicos 7,8 .…”

“…De acuerdo con lo anterior, las dimensiones físicas de la salud son: salud general, rol físico, dolor corporal y función física, y las dimensiones psicológicas son: vitalidad, función social, rol emocional y salud mental. El cuestionario se encuentra validado y baremado para la población española 5 .…”

A structured review of outcome measures used for the assessment of rehabilitation interventions for spinal cord injury

“…However, during the past two decades, health care has become more patientcentered, with measures emerging which assess the impact of a wide range of health care interventions, from the patient's perspective. 6 Such 'patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)' have gradually been introduced as an important outcome (or 'end point') in randomized clinical trials and observational studies. 7 For results to be meaningful, it is imperative that any measures used to assess outcomes in any health care context cover domains (for example pain, physical function, perceived independence) that are relatively specific and appropriate to a particular context or study aim.…”