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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale: quality of life instrument for patients with fecal incontinence.

PURPOSE: This goal of this research was to develop and evaluate the psychometrics of a health-related quality of life scale developed to address issues related specifically to fecal incontinence, the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale. METHODS: The Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale is composed of a total of 29 items; these items form four scales: Lifestyle (10 items), Coping/Behavior (9 items), Depression/Self-Perception (7 items), and Embarrassment (3 items). RESULTS: Psychometric evaluation of these scales demonstrates that they are both reliable and valid. Each of the scales demonstrate stability over time (test/retest reliability) and have acceptable internal reliability (Cronbach alpha >0.70). Validity was assessed using discriminate and convergent techniques. Each of the four scales of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale was capable of discriminating between patients with fecal incontinence and patients with other gastrointestinal problems. To evaluate convergent validity, the correlation of the scales in the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale with selected subscales in the SF-36 was analyzed. The scales in the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale demonstrated significant correlations with the subscales in the SF-36. CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric evaluation of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale showed that this fecal incontinence-specific quality of life measure produces both reliable and valid measurement.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Life quality of patients undergoing liver transplantation.

The aim of this study was to assess the life quality of a group of patients who had undergone liver transplantation using (1) a psychological test to evaluate family relations, work activity, emotional state and social relationships; (2) the quantification of hospital dependence and degree of fitness for work. Included in the study were 32 patients using the following criteria: diagnosis of hepatic cirrhosis and minimum posttransplant follow-up of 6 months. The average age of the study population was 44.8 +/- 10.5 years; there were 23 males and 9 females, with an average follow-up of 15 months. The psychological test used was the Quality of Life Scale (QLS) which consists of 21 items each scoring from 1 to 6 points. The questionnaire was completed before transplantation by all the patients, and after transplantation by 32 patients at 6 months, 20 at 12 months and 12 at 24 months. Hospital dependence was evaluated by the number of admissions and number of days per admission. Lastly, we compared fitness for work before transplantation and at 1 and 2 years after transplantation. The QLS test showed a post-transplant improvement in the four aspects assessed, particularly in the personal aspects (emotions and family) (P < 0.001). Hospital dependence following liver transplantation decreased significantly compared with the pretransplant situation (P < 0.01). Finally, the post-transplant percentage of unfitness for work decreased with time, reaching a significant differences 2 years after transplantation (P < 0.05).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dermatology life quality index: data from Danish inpatients and outpatients.

The aim of the present study was to provide data on the reliability and validity of a Danish translation of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), a short measure of the impact of dermatological diseases on quality of life. The DLQI was administered to 200 outpatients and 100 hospitalized patients suffering from a range of dermatological diseases and to 100 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. Mean scores, internal consistency and test-retest reliability were comparable to the results reported for the original English version. Hospitalized patients reported greater impairment of disease-related quality of life than outpatients, and patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis exhibited greater scores than patients suffering from other dermatological diseases. Discriminant, construct and predictive validities of the Danish translation of the DLQI were satisfactory, as indicated by significant associations between DLQI scores and physician-rated disease severity, disease duration and the time patients were willing to spend each day on a hypothetical effective treatment. The results also suggest that the emphasis Danish patients place on various aspects of disability covered by the questionnaire is similar to that of English patients. In conclusion, the Danish translation of the DLQI showed satisfactory reliability and the preliminary results indicate that this version is a valid measure, which can be used in both research and clinical settings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Economic evaluation of new drug therapies in terms of improved life quality.

Assessment of the benefits is one of the major and largely unresolved problems in the economic evaluation of new drugs, particularly so when major benefits concern patients' well-being, joy of life or life quality rather than increased longevity or improved earnings capacity. In this study, a method for assessing the benefits of new drug therapies in terms of improved life quality is proposed. The approach is illustrated for psoriasis, one of the most common and disabling skin diseases. A MIMIC-structural-equation-model for psoriasis-related medical care demand is developed and estimated, treating the psycho-social disability associated with the disease as a latent (unobservable) variable which is characterized fully by its causes and indicators. The model allows computation of a MIMIC-DISABILITY-index, a one-dimensional measure of the overall psoriasis-related impairment in life-quality, for each patient or by selected patient characteristics. Contrary to traditional methods, the MIMIC-index incorporates a large number of disease aspects (indicators) without using arbitrary weights. Application of this approach to the evaluation of new drugs is straightforward. However, it requires a prospective study design, i.e. patients have to be interviewed at least twice, along with a control group, once before and at least once after onset of the new therapy. The MIMIC-index can then be computed for successive stages of the new therapy, expressing the therapy's effectiveness in improving patients' well-being. The index can be used as a physical output measure in cost-effectiveness analysis. Finally, it can be transformed into monetary units allowing performance of formal cost-benefit analysis of new treatment alternatives.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease stage and health-related quality of life. The Quality of Life of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Study Group.

BACKGROUND: The American Thoracic Society recently recommended that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease be staged on the basis of the percentage of predicted FEV1. OBJECTIVE: To examine 1) the relation between the american Thoracic Society system for staging chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and health-related quality of life and 2) the effect of self-reported comorbid conditions on health-related quality of life. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Outpatient clinics of respiratory departments of four hospitals and one primary health care center in spain. PATIENTS: 321 consecutive male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. MEASUREMENTS: Functional respiratory impairment, FEV1, respiratory symptoms, and health-related quality of life. Respiratory symptoms and health-related quality of life were measured by using the Spanish version of the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire and the Nottingham Health Profile. RESULTS: Patient scores on the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire were moderately to strongly associated with disease staging (r = 0.27 to 0.51). Compared with reference values, values for health-related quality of life for patients with stage I disease were substantially higher on the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (6 and 34; p < 0.001) and values for impairment were significantly greater in stage 1 patients with comorbid conditions (19 and 36; P = 0.001). At least one concomitant chronic condition was found in 84% of study patients. Comorbid conditions only partly influenced the observed pattern of deterioration of health-related quality of life with worsening stages of disease. CONCLUSION: Staging criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease based on percentage of predicted FEV1 separated groups of patients with varying degrees of impairment in health-related quality of life. Contrary to expectations, even patients with mild disease showed substantially compromised health-related quality of life. Comorbid conditions influenced the relation between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and health-related quality of life.

Comorbidity↗
PubMed1993

Life activities and life quality of heroin addicts in and out of methadone treatment.

The focus of the present study was the daily life activities and self-perceived health and life quality of heroin addicts both in and out of methadone treatment, based on 219 addicts followed for 8 months after treatment entry. The majority of outcome evaluations of methadone treatment have focused on the "hard" outcome criteria of drug use levels, criminal activities, and employment. The present study, in contrast, addressed how heroin addicts live on a daily basis, and whether being chemically supported on methadone was associated with changes in daily life activities and perceived quality of life. A six-dimensional measurement model of daily life activities, perceived health, and life quality was established. Substantial changes on the dimensions in a positive direction were found in the 2 months just following treatment entry. Changes in daily life activities (e.g., spending more time with the family, attending to the home) may be early indicators of the impact of methadone treatment that precede changes on the usual "hard" criteria (e.g., obtaining legal employment).

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2004

[A comparative assessment of the life quality of patients after various surgeries because of complicated duodenal ulcer].

Showings of studying the life quality with the aid of the SF-36 questionnaire can be used for assessing long-term results of various types of surgeries at complicated duodenal ulcer. Unlike stomach resections, functional surgeries provide a higher life quality of patients. Such differences become more apparent as time after the surgery passes by.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Life quality in patients after endoscopic microdiskectomy for intervertebral hernia of the lumbar spine].

A group of 38 patients with hernia of the lumbar intravertebral disks who had undergone endoscopic microdiskectomy by DESTANDO was evaluated for life quality and compared with the control group (the patients had been operated on by the routine procedure and healthy individuals). The incidence of the postdiskectomic syndrome was studied in the compared groups of patients. It was shown that life quality in patients with lumbar pains could be evaluated, by using the general health status questionnaire and the specific lumbar pain questionnaire MiGAN. The life quality during the follow-up was considerably higher than that after endoscopic microdiskectomy, in males in particular. The use of endoscopic microdiskectomy reduced the incidence of the postdiskectomic syndrome by more than twice.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Measures of symptoms and life quality to predict emergent use of institutional health care resources in chronic obstructive airways disease.

Thirty subjects with severe chronic obstructive airways disease participated in a study to identify differences in symptoms and life quality between those with high and low emergent use of institutional health care resources. Emergent use was defined as care obtained through unscheduled, nonroutine methods of access to health care providers. There were 15 subjects in each group; the groups had similar sex distribution and were not significantly different for percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (mean 29.8%), use of home oxygen (15 of 30 subjects), or prevalence of CO2 retention (nine of 30). Symptoms and life quality were measured by using three paper and pencil tests, the Bronchitis-Emphysema Symptom Checklist, the Sickness-Impact Profile, and the Katz Adjustment Scale for relatives. Findings demonstrated consistently more symptoms and impairment of life quality in the "high emergent" group. The differences reached statistical significance for irritability, anxiety, helplessness, nervousness, peripheral sensory complaints, alienation, social interaction, and emotional behavior. Discriminant analysis provided a prediction formula that yielded 80% correct prediction for the two groups.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Intervention research in psychosis: issues related to the assessment of quality of life.

Quality of life has emerged as the ideal of modern medicine viewed from a biopsychosocial perspective. The concept has been increasingly used as an important attribute in patient care and clinical studies as well as the basis in many health economic evaluations. Although the concept has been extensively applied in a number of other medical fields such as oncology, cardiovascular, and arthritis, it is only recently that quality of life has received serious attention in the study of severe psychiatric disorders. For the concept to be meaningfully applied in the study of these disorders, several basic and methodological issues have to be adequately resolved. Five such issues are identified: definition of quality of life, the subjective/objective dichotomy, significant determinants of quality of life, how quality of life is measured, and the role of quality of life in clinical management and health economics. Unless these issues are adequately clarified and resolved, the recent heightened interest in the concept of quality of life may fade away, and that would be a missed opportunity in the mental health field.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1996

Quality of life as an outcome measure in nursing research. "May you have a long and healthy life".

Quality of life has emerged as an important concept and outcome in health and health care. Policy-makers, researchers, clinicians, and the public at large consider perceived quality of life to be an important dimension of the health of a population or an individual. The nature of nursing is such that many of its anticipated outcomes relate to improvement in the quality of life of individuals and populations. There continues to be debate about the actual definition of quality of life, and a concept that is difficult to define will naturally pose challenges to measurement. This has not impeded the proliferation of quality-of-life instruments, since the concept is recognized as an increasingly important clinical and research outcome. Progress has been made in clarifying and operationalizing the concept. We propose a conceptual viewpoint that separates what quality of life is from what contributes to quality of life. This will assist nurse researchers planning to use quality of life as an outcome in evaluating nursing interventions. In clinical or research situations, for the purposes of measurement, an operational definition of quality of life stems from a definition of health. From this is drawn a definition of health-related quality of life (HRQL). For the purpose of outcome measurement, the operational definition relates to the domains important to the study population and the particular health intervention under study. Issues that arise in the measurement of HRQL are also presented.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

[Patient-based outcome measures: oral health-related quality of life].

Quality of life has initially been used as an outcome in social and economic research. In the past years the concept of quality of life has been extended to health research and the field of oral health. Oral health related quality of life is not equivalent with patient satisfaction; instead, it captures the impact of oral health problems on a variety of functional and psychosocial outcomes. Oral health related quality of life can be measured with standardized validated questionnaires as for example the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP). the OHIP contains seven broad domains with items addressing oral health problems, which influence quality of life. Several studies using oral health related quality of life as an outcome have shown that reduced numbers of teeth or faulty restorations correlate with a poorer quality of life. Clinical trials with intervention have demonstrated that patients with implant overdentures experience a significantly improved quality of life compared to those with conventional complete dentures. Results from clinical studies using patient based outcomes such as oral health related quality of life can be used to provide patients and providers with improved information about the effectiveness of treatments.

Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Life quality of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and chemo-immunotherapy--a pilot study.

Renal cell cancer (RCC) accounts for 2-3% of all malignant tumors in adults. Due to the indolent course of disease and the few signs and symptoms in early stages the majority of patients presents with metastatic disease when diagnosed. The aims of systemic therapy of RCC are therefore palliative. Recent research shows the key role of immune mechanisms in the course of RCC. The therapeutic use of cytokines, mainly interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-alpha (IFN) results in improvement of remission rates. To date it is unknown to what extent multiple cycles of chemo-immunotherapy alter the life quality (LQ) of patients with metastatic RCC. We monitored life quality during therapy in a three-armed protocol with interferon-alpha 2a, interleukin-2, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), isotretinoin (ISO) and vinblastin (VBL). Life quality was impaired by two factors: response to chemo-immunotherapy and therapy side effects. A steep decrease of LQ-scores was seen in week 1 of therapy, LQ improved then for patients with stable disease (SD) and partial remission (PR) but not for those with progressive disease (PD).

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Development of a conceptual model of quality of life.

Quality of life is a critically important concept for health care that has been developed predominantly in the past three decades. Conceptual clarity is extremely important, because differences in meaning can lead to profound differences in outcomes for research, clinical practice, and allocation of health care resources. This paper describes the development of the Ferrans conceptual model of quality of life. The model was developed based on the adoption of an individualistic ideology, which recognizes that quality of life depends on the unique experience of life for each person. Individuals are the only proper judge of their quality of life, because people differ in what they value. Consistent with this ideology, quality of life was defined in terms of satisfaction with the aspects of life that are important to the individual. The model was developed using qualitative methodology. Factor analysis of patient data was used to cluster related elements into domains of quality of life. The resulting model identifies four domains of quality of life: health and functioning, psychological/spiritual, social and economic, and family. Subsequent cross-cultural work with African Americans and Mexican Americans has provided evidence that the elements of the model appropriately reflect quality of life for segments of the population not sampled in the original work. The Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index was developed based on this model.

Concept Formation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Validation of a Cantonese version of the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index.

My goal was to assess the validity and reliability of a Cantonese version of the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI). To do so, I invited four translators to produce a proper Cantonese translation of the CDLQI. I asked five children to complete this version and made adjustments as necessary. I then requested 30 children with skin problems and 30 children consulting for problems unrelated to the skin in a primary care setting to complete the questionnaire before their consultation. A physician assessed the severity of the skin problem using a visual analog scale. Some children from both groups completed the questionnaire again 7 days later. The CDLQI scores are strongly (gammas = 0.850) and significantly (p < 0.01) correlated with physician-rated disease severity. The Cantonese CDLQI scores were similar to those of the English version for individual skin problems. Correlation of test-retest results is strong (gammas = 0.958, p < 0.01). Cronbach's alpha is 0.83. I concluded that the Cantonese CDLQI is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the effects of skin problems on quality of life in children.

Asian People↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The life quality of population belonging to senior age groups].

Described in the paper are issues related with the involution time in men and women, who are in the second period of their mature age, and with complications of the mentioned time interval affecting the life quality and its expectancy and aggravating the risk of sudden death. It was for the first time that the authors undertook a complex study of men and women of the mentioned age whose involution was physiological or complicated; they focused attention on the criterion specificity of the involution disregulations of different nature affecting the mean life expectancy and life quality in patients. The study results verify to the fact that the involution period is essentially influenced not only by endogenous but also by exogenous factors. It is pointed out as necessary to promote the primary prevention and outpatient follow-up of men and women aged above 40 for the purpose of exposing the factors of risk of involution complications and for the purpose of preventing early complications observed during the discussed life period. It is demonstrated that this would essentially improve the life quality in a significant share of the nation including patients aged above 40.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Life quality of family caregivers of the schizophrenic patient].

It was aimed to verify the concept of life quality (LQ) of family caregivers of schizophrenic patient bearers and to identify the factors that interfere in their quality lives. For that an exploratory-descriptive, and traverse research was accomplished with 52 family caregivers that live with the patient. It was concluded that the relatives defined life quality as: "to have health, to work and support the family" (35); "to have health (9); "to have health, to have good hospitals and to live in a better neighborhood"(3); "to have health and to continue taking care of them" (2); "to have health and own house" (2); "to have money to get a better treatment" (1). Among the factors that interfered in their lifes "leaving of going the church"; "not to leave with friends"; "to leave of to work" and "not to have more time for himself" was the ones that stood out.

Caregivers↗