The measurement of health-related quality of life has attracted much attention and is now a component of most big clinical trials. As we evaluate and choose between treatments and make judgements about priorities in health care, it is important that the equivalent data are available for different patient groups.
SpiegelhalterDJGoreSMFitzpatrickRFletcherAEJonesDRCoxDR. Quality of life measures in health care. III: resource allocation. BMJ1992;305:1205–9.
2.
CoastJ. Processing data to form QALYs. BMJ1992;305:87–90.
3.
FallowfieldL. The Quality of Life: The Missing Measurement in Health Care. London: Souvenir Press, 1990.
4.
WalterPJ. Quality of Life after Open Heart Surgery. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992.
5.
HuntSMMcKennaSPMcEwenJ. The Nottingham Health Profile: subjective health status and medical consultations. Soc Sci Med1981;15A:221–9.
6.
CaineNHarrisonSCWSharplesLDWallworkJ. Prospective study of quality of life before and after coronary artery bypass grafting. BMJ1991;302:511–16.
7.
CaineNSharplesLDEnglishTAHWallworkJ. Prospective study comparing quality of life before and after heart transplantation. Transplant Proc1990;22:1437–9.
8.
CaineNSharplesLDSmythRScottJHathawayTHigenbottamTWSurvival and quality of life of cystic fibrosis patients before and after heart-lung transplantation. Transplant Proc1991;23:1203–4.
9.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R), 3rd edn revised. Washington, DC: APA, 1987.
10.
HuntSMMcKennaSPWilliamsJ. Reliability of a population survey tool for measuring perceived health problems: A study of patients with osteoarthritis. J Epidemiol Community Health1981;35:297–300.
11.
GuyE. ECDEU Assessment Manual for Psychopharmacology. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health Education and Welfare, 1976:516–20.
12.
HuntSMMcEwenJMcKennaSP. Measuring Health Status. Beckenham: Croom Helm, 1986.
13.
O'BrienBJBuxtonMJFergusonBA. Measuring the effectiveness of heart transplant programmes: quality of life data and their relationship to survival analysis. J Chron Dis1987;40:137S–153S.
14.
JennetB. Health technology assessment. The rule should be “no evaluation - no technology”. BMJ1992;305:67–8.
15.
SteinhausenHCHRauss-MasonCSeidelR. Follow up studies of anorexia nervosa: a review of four decades of outcome research. Psychol Med1991;21:447–54.