QUALITY-OF-LIFE ASSESSMENT IN PALLIATIVE CARE

Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients throug h attention to physical, psychological, social and spiritual distress. Assessment of quality of life, expressed as a global score, is diffic ult because patients are too ill for long interviews, but relatives an d professionals are poor proxy respondents for patients. Quality of li fe assessment tools must be multidimensional, considering both physica l and psychosocial issues, must be quick and easy to administer and sc ore and must be sufficiently sensitive to detect changes with time. Qu ality of life assessment has audit and routine clinical uses; it is an essential consideration in any research involving the patient with ad vanced cancer. The different types of questionnaire assessment tool ar e discussed in detail.