Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Health-related quality of life: implications for critical care interventional studies and why we need to collaborate with patients

Ramsay, Pam

Authors

Pam Ramsay



Abstract

Purpose of review: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important patient-reported outcome measure following critical illness. ‘Validated’ and professionally endorsed generic measures are widely used to evaluate critical care intervention and guide practice, policy and research. Although recognizing that they are ‘here to stay’, leading QoL researchers are beginning to question their ‘fitness for purpose’. It is therefore timely to review critiques of their limitations in the wider healthcare and social science literatures and to examine the implications for critical care research including, in particular, emerging interventional studies in which HRQoL is the primary outcome of interest.

Recent findings: Generic HRQoL measures have provided important yet limited insights into HRQoL among survivors of critical illness. They are rarely developed or validated in collaboration with patients and cannot therefore be assumed to reflect their experiences and perspectives.

Summary: Collaboration with patients is advocated in order to improve the interpretation and utility of such data. Failure to do so may result in important study effects being overlooked and the dismissal of potentially useful interventions.

Citation

Ramsay, P. (2011). Health-related quality of life: implications for critical care interventional studies and why we need to collaborate with patients. Current Opinion in Critical Care, 17, 510-514. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCC.0b013e32834a4bd4

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 9, 1999
Publication Date 2011-10
Deposit Date Jun 28, 2016
Print ISSN 1070-5295
Electronic ISSN 1531-7072
Publisher Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 17
Pages 510-514
DOI https://doi.org/10.1097/MCC.0b013e32834a4bd4
Keywords Critical care; health-related quality of life; patient-centred;
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/10376
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MCC.0b013e32834a4bd4



Downloadable Citations