QUALITY OF LIFE
Carr Alison, Higginson Irene, Robinson Peter (Eds)
Quality of Life (QoL) is a central tenet of palliative care. Should we be measuring it routinely? If so, how should we measure it? The literature
on measuring QoL is both vast and complex, and its use in day-to-day palliative care leads to questions of applicability (can the patient do the test?), interpretation (what have you measured?
Is it patient-centered?), and usefulness (what does it mean?).
This short book provides a clear description of what QoL measures are, and how they should be used and interpreted. The limitations and pitfalls
of using QoL measures are equally well described.
If you want to advance your thinking about Quality of Life in palliative care, start with this excellent little book.
Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
February 2004
Author Information
Alison Carr is ARC Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Irene Higginson is Professor of Palliative and Person Centered Care, Department of Palliative Care and Policy, Kings College, London and St.
Christopher’s Hospice, London, UK
Peter Robinson is Professor of Dental Public Health, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Table of Contents
1. Current State of the Art in Quality of Life Measurement 1
Bowling
2. Is Quality of Life determined by expectations or experience? 9
Carr, Gibson and Robinson
3. Are Quality of Life Measures Patient-centered? 19
Carr and Higginson
4. Quality of Live in Caregivers 31
Sulch and Kalra
5. Assessing Quality of Life in Children 40
Vincent and Higginson
6. Who should measure Quality of Life? 54
Addington-Hall and Kalra
7. The Clinical Utility of Quality of Life Measures 63
Higginson and Carr
8. Measuring the Impact of Assistive Technologies on Quality of Life:
Can Rehabilitation Professionals Rise to the Challenge? 79
Seale and Turner-Smith
9. How to Choose a Quality of Life Measure 88
Robinson, Carr and Higginson
10. Longitudinal Analysis of Quality of Life Data 101
Robinson and Donaldson
11. Is there such a thing as Life not worth living? 113
Farsides and Dunlop
Glossary 121
Index 128
