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Research methodology
Measuring quality of life
  1. Meriel E M Jenneya,
  2. Stephen Campbellb
  1. aDepartment of Child Health, Llandough Hospital, Penlan Road, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 2XX, bNational Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Manchester
  1. Dr Jenney.

https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.77.4.347

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    Over the past five years there has been an escalation in reports relating to quality of life issues for both adults and children. Measurement of quality of life has become fashionable for a number of reasons—the medical profession is increasingly accountable for its performance when providing health care, measures of outcome are required as a major endpoint for phase III randomised controlled trials,1 and it may be useful as an adjunct to justification of resource allocation. Emphasis is now also, rightly, being placed on the preferences of the patients, their perception of their own health, and the impact of treatment. But what is meant by quality of life in the context of health, what are the implications of assessing quality of life in children, and how, if at all, can it be measured?

    Defining quality of life

    One of the major criticisms relating to recent publications concerning quality of life is a failure of authors to define the term.2 While it is accepted that the definition of quality of life is at least in part dependent on the context in which it used (clearly many non-medical issues can have a profound effect on quality of life) and is a uniquely personal matter, it is essential that within the context of health, a consensus with respect to definition is achieved. A comprehensive definition of quality of life in children and adolescents was recently proposed by a group examining quality of life for children with cancer. ‘Quality of life in paediatric oncology is multidimensional. It includes, but is not limited to, the social, physical and emotional functioning of the child and adolescent, and when indicated, his/her family, and it must be sensitive to the changes that occur throughout development’.3 Another useful definition is that of Gill and Feinstein2 : ‘a uniquely personal …

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