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PubMed2002

The Norwegian version of the dermatology life quality index: a study of validity and reliability in psoriatics.

The aim of this study was to test the Norwegian version of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI-N) for validity and reliability in psoriatic patients. The DLQI-N was administered to 230 patients with psoriasis who underwent climate therapy on Gran Canaria, with a dermatologist assessing their psoriasis severity using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index. Factor analyses resulted in a unidimensional pattern, which supports the use of a total DLQI-N score. The internal consistency coefficient of this unidimensional measure was 0.90 (Cronbach's alpha) and the paired inter-item correlations ranged from 0.20 to 0.76 (p < 0.01). Questions related to work, sport and sex were the issues most often ticked off as not relevant, and the item related to working/studying was often misunderstood. DLQI-N scores were significantly associated with disease severity, age and sex. We assess DLQI-N as a valid, reliable and clinically useful outcome measure for quality of life in Norwegian patients with psoriasis.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed1995

The psychiatrist's perspective on quality of life and quality of care in oncology: concepts, symptom management, communication issues.

The important prevalence of psychosocial problems and psychiatric disturbances that have been reported in oncology, underlines the need for comprehensive psychosocial support for cancer patients and their families. Psychosocial support is designed to preserve, restore or enhance quality of life. Quality of life refers not only to psychosocial distress and adjustment-related problems but also to the management of cancer symptoms and treatment side-effects. Psychosocial interventions designed for this purpose should be divided into five categories: prevention, early detection, restoration, support and palliation. Firstly, preventive interventions are designed to avoid the development of predictable morbidity secondary to treatment and/or disease. Secondly, early detection of patients' needs or problems refers to the assumption that early interventions' could have therapeutic results superior to those of delayed support, both for quality of life and survival. Thirdly, restorative interventions refer to actions used when a cure is likely, the aim being the control or elimination of residual cancer disability. Fourthly, supportive rehabilitation is planned to lessen disability related to chronic disease, characterised by cancer illness remission and progression, and to active treatment. Fifthly, palliation is required when curative treatments are likely to no longer be effective, and when maintaining or improving comfort becomes the main goal. Psychological interventions are often multidisciplinary, with a variety of content. The type of psychological intervention ranges from information and education to more sophisticated support programmes including directive (behavioural or cognitive) therapies, or non-directive (dynamic or supportive) therapies. Social interventions usually include financial, household, equipment, and transport assistance depending on individual and family needs and resources. These interventions may be combined with the prescription of pharmacological (psychotropic, analgesic), physical, speech or occupational therapies, especially in rehabilitation programmes. Health care services devoted to delivery of these interventions are hospital, hospice or home-based and organised very differently depending on already available community resources and local practice.

Humans↗
PubMed2003

[Some specific features of life quality in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis].

The paper presents the results of examination of two groups of male patients with pulmonary tuberculosis: 152 males with fibrosocavernous pulmonary tuberculosis and 123 males with infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis; which included physical examination, X-ray, laboratory, and functional studies, multifactorial psychological personality testing, survey using a special questionnaire. The functional parameters of health have been found to be worse in male patients with chronic pulmonary tuberculosis. Analyzing the social situation revealed no statistically significant differences in males with chronic or first diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis. The psychological characteristics were more impaired in male patients with chronic pulmonary tuberculosis. By recognizing that life quality is an integrative indicator of the functional parameters of health and the social and psychological parameters of living standards and life way, life quality in all male patients with pulmonary tuberculosis may be considered to be low. Life quality in male patients with chronic pulmonary tuberculosis is still worse than in those with first diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Comparison of performance of four instruments in evaluating the effects of salmeterol on asthma quality of life.

Quality of life measures are increasingly used as important efficacy endpoints in studies of drugs for asthma. The purpose of this study was to assess both the sensitivity to change and the construct validity of four different quality of life instruments in patients with asthma. In a double-blind, parallel group study, 120 moderate asthma patients, aged between 18-70 yrs, received either inhaled salmeterol 50 micrograms b.i.d. or inhaled salbutamol 400 micrograms b.i.d. In addition to respiratory outcomes, quality of life was measured at a 6 weeks follow-up using: 1) Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ); 2) Living With Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ); 3) Sickness Impact Profile (SIP); 4) Rating Scale (RS); and Standard Gamble (SG) utilities. Salmeterol led to significant improvements over salbutamol on virtually all clinical outcomes. Although all the quality of life instruments showed the same trend in favour of salmeterol, only the AQLQ and RS utilities showed significantly greater improvement on salmeterol than on salbutamol. Except for the AQLQ, the correlation between change in lung function and change in quality of life was generally low. Whereas, the AQLQ correlated well with the patient's overall assessment of efficacy (r = 0.64), the LWAQ, SIP and utilities failed to show such a correlation. The AQLQ showed the best correlation with symptom scores. The cross-sectional correlation between the AQLQ and the LWAQ was 0.73, whereas the longitudinal correlation was only 0.29. The SG generally showed poor correlation with other measures, including the RS. In conclusion, patients given salmeterol showed a greater improvement in quality of life compared to patients given salbutamol. Of the disease-specific questionnaires the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire was found to be more responsive to change than the Living With Asthma Questionnaire and showed greater validity. Of the generic instruments, the rating scale utilities were most responsive. The Standard Gamble showed poor correlation with other measures.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1994

Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI)--a simple practical measure for routine clinical use.

A simple practical questionnaire technique for routine clinical use, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) is described. One hundred and twenty patients with different skin diseases were asked about the impact of their disease and its treatment on their lives; a questionnaire, the DLQI, was developed based on their answers. The DLQI was then completed by 200 consecutive new patients attending a dermatology clinic. This study confirmed that atopic eczema, psoriasis and generalized pruritus have a greater impact on quality of life than acne, basal cell carcinomas and viral warts. The DLQI was also completed by 100 healthy volunteers; their mean score was very low (1.6%, s.d. 3.5) compared with the mean score for the dermatology patients (24.2%, s.d. 20.9). The reliability of the DLQI was examined in 53 patients using a 1 week test-retest method and reliability was found to be high (gamma s = 0.99).

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The impact of venous thrombosis on quality of life.

Quality of life (QOL) is increasingly seen as an important outcome in clinical care. Etiology, diagnosis, and management of venous thrombosis have been studied extensively, but only few studies have examined the impact of venous thrombosis on quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of venous thrombosis on quality of life in a well-defined population of patients with venous thrombosis, by using both a generic and a disease-specific quality of life measure. A total of 45 patients from the thrombosis clinic of the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT, returned a mailed questionnaire including the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and a disease-specific venous thrombosis-quality of life (VT-QOL) questionnaire about the problems faced by patients with venous thrombosis. The sample consisted of 13 men (28.9%) and 32 women (71.1%). The mean age was 44.1 years, with a range from 21 to 80 years. Compared with population norms of a general U.S. population that were adjusted for age and sex (N= 2463), venous thrombosis patients scored significantly lower (p < 0.05) on all subscales of the SF-36. Patients with the postthrombotic syndrome (PTS) appeared to have more impairment in their quality of life as measured by both the SF-36 and the disease-specific questionnaire. All correlations between the SF-36 subscales and the subscales of the VT-QOL were significant, most of them on a p < 0.01 level. Given the impact of venous thrombosis and the postthrombotic syndrome on quality of life, assessment of QOL should be included in future studies on the outcome of venous thrombosis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of working life quality on burnout.

Six dimensions of the quality of working life were measured to find out the relation ship of burnout and the quality of working life in retail trade and metal industry (N = 2599). Burnout was measured by emotional exhaustion from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Some demographic variables were included in the analyses. The result show the great impact of psychological job demands on burnout in both business lines. The impact of the other five indexes (conflicts, job control, work of superior, organization of work, and monotonous job) on burnout were different in these two business lines. Still variables had some impact on burnout in both the retail trade and in the metal industry. Age turned out to be a complicated factor in relation to burnout.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

[Application of St George's respiratory questionnaire in evaluating the life quality of Chinese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

OBJECTIVE: To study the value of St George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) in evaluating the life quality of Chinese patients with COPD. METHODS: The SGRQ score and spirometry were collected from 30 patients with COPD. The validity was documented by performing correlation analysis, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated. Nineteen patients were reassessed after three months' treatment with inhaled glucocorticoids. Paired t test was performed to evaluate the sensitivity of SGRQ to changes of disease severity. RESULTS: The correlation coefficients between the total score and the symptoms section score, the activity section score, and the impacts section score of SGRQ were 0.61, 0.79 and 0.97, respectively. The symptoms section score, the activity section score, the impacts section score, and the total score were significantly correlated with FEV(1)% pred, and with similar coefficients (-0.4 - -0.5, P < 0.05). The result of paired t test showed that the changes of SGRQ between the two assessments were significant (P < 0.001) and consistent with changes of clinical symptoms and spirometry. SGRQ was more sensitive than spirometry in evaluating the changes of disease severity. CONCLUSION: SGRQ was a valid, sensitive and feasible method in measuring the quality of life in Chinese patients with COPD. Large-scale application in China needs to be carried out.

Female↗
PubMed2000

Selecting a measure of health related quality of life.

Quality of life is becoming recognized increasingly as an important outcome measure which needs to be considered by social workers. However, there does not appear to be a clear consensus about the definition of quality of life. In addition, social workers are likely to experience difficulties choosing and applying an appropriate instrument with which to measure quality of life because of the many available instruments purporting to assess quality of life. This paper discusses the definition of health-related quality of life and explains the main measurement properties of an instrument that must be appraised when considering whether or not an instrument is appropriate. The paper will assist social workers to make an informed choice about measures of health-related quality of life.

Health Status Indicators↗
PubMed1997

Effect of postchemotherapy nausea and vomiting on health-related quality of life. The Quality of Life and Symptom Control Committees of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group.

The purpose was to measure the effects of postchemotherapy nausea and vomiting (PCNV) on health-related quality of life (HQL) in patients receiving either moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy. The study sample consisted of 832 chemotherapy-naive patients with cancer who received either moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy as part of multicenter trials of new antiemetics. The patients completed the self-report European Organization for Research and Cancer (EORTC) core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) before chemotherapy (baseline) and 1 week (day 8) and 2-4 weeks after chemotherapy. They also completed a self-report nausea and vomiting (NV) diary for 5-7 days after chemotherapy. To determine the effects of PCNV on HQL, the change in scores between the baseline and day 8 HQL assessments was calculated for each domain and symptom in the QLQ-C30 and compared in four subgroups of patients: those with both nausea and vomiting, those with nausea but no vomiting, those with no nausea but with vomiting, and those with neither nausea nor vomiting. The group with both nausea and vomiting showed statistically significantly worse physical, cognitive and social functioning, global quality of life, fatigue, anorexia, insomnia and dyspnea as compared to the group with neither nausea nor vomiting (0.0001 < P < 0.05). Patients with only nausea but no vomiting tended to have less worsening in functioning and symptoms than those having both nausea and vomiting. Increased severity of vomiting (> 2 episodes) was associated with worsening of only global quality of life and anorexia as compared with 1-2 episodes of vomiting (0.0001 < P < 0.01). By 2-4 weeks after chemotherapy all HQL scores had either returned to their baseline levels or were better than baseline. PCNV adversely affects several quality-of-life domains, but patients with only nausea experience less disruption than do those with both nausea and vomiting. Patients with 1-2 episodes of vomiting experience almost the same degree of disruption of HQL as do patients with more than 2 episodes of vomiting.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1992

Conceptual views on quality of life.

Quality of life can be discussed in many ways. One way is to analyse the empirical quantitative approach to determine whether the research categories are operational, empirically unambiguous, and thematically relevant; progress, in the sense of changing the number of research categories, does not take place through a systematic empirical test but through a modification of the theory of quality of life. The current debate on quality of life has included a conflict between natural science and a humanistic approach. Our view is that quality of life must be defined through the difficult concept of happiness. When cancer threatens happiness, not one but two fundamental crises influence quality of life, which we regard as a key concept of a therapeutic method.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

[Methodological basis and aspects of quality of life].

Quality of life is an important patient-relevant end point. Originally viewed with some scepticism, the concept of quality of life has now been largely accepted internationally. Numerous methodologically sound ways of measuring have become available. An ever increasing number of studies include quality of life. Also, organizations providing care are becoming more interested, but including an assessment of quality of life when researching care provisions still requires greater attention. Results of research on quality of life can contribute to assessing needs, evaluate treatment, control quality and improve health within society.

Germany↗
PubMed2006

Cross validation of the Turkish version of dermatology life quality index.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to test the linguistic validation of the Turkish version of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) for Turkish speaking dermatology patients. METHODS: The DLQI is a 10-item dermatology specific index developed originally in English. The methodology of this study consists of four consecutive sections: Translation, cognitive debriefing, field testing and statistical analysis. Translation steps: (a) Two forward independent translations into Turkish, (b) reconciliation of these translations by a dermatologist, (c) backward translation of the consensus Turkish version by a bilingual person into its original language (English), (d) and comparing the original questionnaire with the backward translated one. Cognitive debriefing: Sessions were performed on five patients from each of the seven different dermatological diagnosis groups. Field testing: The final Turkish version on which the face validity was approved by specialists on a total of 79 inpatients/outpatients with various dermatological diagnoses treated at Celal Bayar University Hospital. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Internal consistency (using Cronbach a) and item-total score correlations (Pearson correlation) were used for reliability analysis. Validity analysis was carried out by construct testing (principal components factor analysis), convergent (Pearson correlation) and (discriminate Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test) validity, and SF-36 was used in parallel with DLQI in order to test convergent validity. The data were analyzed by the SPSS version 10.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) statistical package. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients in the study was 30.77+/-15.91 years; the mean score of DLQI was 7.61+/-6.12. The median of item-total correlation coefficient was found to be 0.66, within a range of 0.48-0.81. The internal consistency of the index was found to be highly sufficient (alpha=0.85). The DLQI was found to be highly related to the physical domain of SF-36. Life quality score was found to be significantly low for the inpatients compared with outpatients (differential validity). CONCLUSION: It was found that the Turkish version of the DLQI was an acceptable index for dermatologists and dermatology patients and, moreover, to be valid and reliable in a cross-sectional level. The responsiveness of the Turkish version of the DLQI needs to be tested further on a variety of dermatological conditions with different severities.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR): a measure of health-related quality of life and quality of life for patients with pulmonary hypertension.

OBJECTIVE: No outcome measures specific to pulmonary hypertension (PH) currently exist. The aim of the study was to develop health-related quality of life (symptoms and functioning) scales and a quality of life scale that would allow comprehensive, accurate and valid patient-reported outcome assessment in clinical studies. METHODS: The content of the Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR) was derived from qualitative interviews conducted with 35 patients. Item reduction was based on the analysis of responses to a postal survey (n=75) and patient interviews (n=15) designed to determine face and content validity. A final postal validation study (n=91) was performed to determine reproducibility and construct validity. RESULTS: The questionnaire was well received by participants who found it to be relevant, comprehensible and quick and easy to complete. Rasch and factor analyses were conducted to ensure unidimensionality of the final CAMPHOR scales; Overall symptoms (made up of Energy, Breathlessness and Mood subscales), Functioning and Quality of life. The CAMPHOR scales had good internal consistency (alpha=0.90-0.92) and reproducibility (test-retest correlations=0.86-0.92). They also exhibited convergent, divergent and known groups validity. CONCLUSIONS: The CAMPHOR is a valuable new instrument for assessing patient-reported outcome in PH clinical trials and routine practice.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1987

Life quality in patients under hypotensive treatment.

The authors studied the life quality in a group of 74 patients--31 males and 43 females--affected with essential hypertension of World Health Organization I or II degree. All patients began treatment with frusemide at a dose of 25 mg once a day. The 35 non-responsive patients to frusemide were then treated, by random selection, with captopril at a dose of 25 mg twice a day, or nadolol at a dose of 80 mg once a day, for three months. The results show no significant differences on the hypotensive effect with either drug; in view of the incidence of side-effects of the two drugs, treatment with captopril is clearly better tolerated by the patients.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed2005

Development and validation of a French obesity-specific quality of life questionnaire: Quality of Life, Obesity and Dietetics (QOLOD) rating scale.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a new health related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaire specific to obesity and its management. METHODS: This study was in two parts. The first (Study 1) consisted of the creation of a new tool derived from the American "Impact of Weight on Quality of Life Questionnaire" (IWQOL, 74 items) by adding to it a 17 items specific complementary module. This initial questionnaire (91 items) was reduced so as to obtain a questionnaire adapted to socio-cultural factors of obesity and dietary weight management in France. The objective of the second (Study 2) was to validate this final questionnaire by evaluating its psychometric properties: construction validity, internal reliability, concurrent validity in relation to a generic questionnaire, the SF-12, clinical validity by studying the effects of age, gender and body mass index (BMI), and reproducibility. RESULTS: The results of Study 1, obtained in 128 obese patients (mean age: 42.5 12.1, BMI: 34.5 2.8 kg/m2, women: 83.6%) enabled reduction of the 91 questionnaire items to 36, grouped into 5 dimensions: physical impact, psycho-social impact, sex life, comfort with food and diet experience. Two hundred and twelve patients (mean age: 43.3 12.2, BMI: 35.8 7.4 kg/m2, women: 77.7%) were included in Study 2, among whom 75 filled out the questionnaire twice at a one week interval. Analyses enabled verification of the construction validity and internal reliability (Cronbach alpha > 0.7) of the questionnaire as well as its concurrent validity in relation to summarized SF-12 scores and its clinical validity. The "physical impact" dimension was significantly influenced by BMI and age, the dimensions "sex life" and "diet experience" by the factors gender and BMI, while "psycho-social impact" was influenced by the 3 factors cited. Its reproducibility was also deemed satisfactory (intra-class correlation coefficient > 0.8). CONCLUSION: This new questionnaire, called the "Echelle Qualité de Vie, Obésité et Diététique (EQVOD)"/"Quality of Life, Obesity and Dietetics (QOLOD)" rating scale is sufficiently reliable and reproducible to be used in clinical practice. It is a simple tool adapted to socio-cultural factors of obesity in France, enabling taking into account of the effects of dietary management on the HRQOL of obese people.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2006

[Effect of health education on the lung function and life quality in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of health education on the symptoms, lung function and life quality in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). METHODS: Eighty-two patients were assigned into 2 groups randomly: The treatment group (n = 43) accepted health education for 6 months and the control group (n = 39) did not. Before and after the 6 months, we observed the number of smokers, Borg score, inhale treatment, times of acute episode, SGRQ score, lung function, and the therapeutic effect in the two groups. RESULTS: Six months later, the ratio of smokers in the treatment group was 13.95%, much lower than that in the control group (35.90%, P = 0.021); the Borg score of the treatment group decreased from 4.86 +/- 1.21 to 3.38 +/- 0.94 (P =0.000), but there was no difference in the control group; the ratios of accepted inhale treatment in the treatment group and the control group were 100% (43/43) and 20.51 % (8/39) respectively (P = 0.000), and the accuracy rates were 100% (43/43 ) in the treatment group and 12. 82% (5/39) in the control group (P =0. 000); the times of acute episode in the treatment group was 1.51 +/- 1.53, much lower than that in the control group (4.46 +/- 5.17, P = 0. 000); the indexes of lung function before and after the 6 months between the two groups had no significant difference. The total score, the symptom section score, the activity section score, and the impact section score of SGRQ after the 6 months of health education were much lower than those of 6 months before, and those in the control group had no significant difference. CONCLUSION: Six months of the health education can decrease the ratio of smokers and the times of acute episode, and to improve the life quality of patients with stable COPD.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Organ preservation and quality of life: the quality of life of patients undergoing radiation therapy.

In the definition of quality of life (QL) conventional medical indicators (rate of cure, disease-free survival, side-effects, costs) should be combined with those of the patient's personality the impact of the disease, the level of satisfaction, the general health conditions. This assessment being complex, obviously needs an integration of competences for correct decision making in diagnosis and treatment. In oncology, numerous attempts have been made towards the systematization of toxicity in radiotherapy based on physical and functional rather than multidimensional criteria. However the categorization of possible side-effects according to scoring systems already marks an improvement towards the quality assurance of care and thus the patient's quality of life.

Humans↗