Examples of QOL measures

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Generic measures – examples

Euro QolThis measures 5 domains, with 3 questions in each domain:

Mobility

Self-care

Usual activities

Pain/discomfort

Anxiety/depression

The first three are quite dependent on someone’s physical functioning. People are asked to choose between three questions, selecting the one that best reflects their wellbeing at the time. The responses for pain/discomfort are as follows:

No pain or discomfort

Moderate pain or discomfort

Extreme pain or discomfort

Most people with long-term conditions have some degree of pain all of their lives. If well controlled, it may be mild, but there is no option for this in the Euro Qol questions. Thus, sensitivity to change may be poor. They are very subjective judgements as well, and may differ between individuals.

SF36This has eight 8 domains and covers a wider area:

Physical functioning

Role limitations due to physical health

Bodily pain

Social functioning

General mental health

Role limitations due to emotional health

Vitality

General health perceptions

There are quite complicated scoring mechanisms for the SF36. In addition, people can find it difficult to provide an ‘average’ of their pain ‘over the past four weeks’, and people find it difficult to average over four weeks when they are in pain.

SEI QolPeople are asked to choose individual domains that are important and determine their quality of life. Questions include:

What are the 5 most important areas of your life at present… the things that determine the quality of your life?

Rate how each of these areas are for you at the moment. (Visual Analogue Scale – VAS)

Rate overall QoL (VAS)

It’s a step forward in allowing people choice.

There are lots of specific QOL measures as well. If you name a condition, there’s probably a specific QoL measure to measure it with. For example, there are QoL measures for: arthritis; asthma; cancer; diabetes; heart disease.

Both can also be used in combination.

Dr. Smita