Quality of life as a construct in health and disability research

Citation
M. Brown et Wa. Gordon, Quality of life as a construct in health and disability research, MT SINAI J, 66(3), 1999, pp. 160-169
Citations number
80
Categorie Soggetti
General & Internal Medicine
Journal title
MOUNT SINAI JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
ISSN journal
00272507 → ACNP
Volume
66
Issue
3
Year of publication
1999
Pages
160 - 169
Database
ISI
SICI code
0027-2507(199905)66:3<160:QOLAAC>2.0.ZU;2-0
Abstract
Definitional issues that affect the measurement of quality of life (QOL) in health care research are discussed. In reviewing a broad sample of health- and disability-related QOL studies, the authors note several characteristi cs in which respective approaches to measurement differ: (a) In various mea surement tools, QOL has been located either within the insider's (i.e., the person being measured) judgment of the "goodness" of his or her life or ou tside this judgment. (b) The insider's and/or outsider's values may hold sw ay in deciding the elements of life that are relevant to QOL within the mea surement process, and in rating the degree of "goodness" of these life doma ins. (c) QOL models incorporate domains of items varying in breadth and spe cificity; and they take either a negative or neutral view of functioning. ( d) QOL models vary in their complexity, type of linkage between components, and inclusion (or not) of both the insider's judgment and external predict ors of QOL. These distinctions are used by the authors in recommending appr oaches to QOL measurement suitable for health care research aimed at outcom e assessment and description of populations.