Abstract
The changing demographic profile of the world’s population towards old age and evidence of people living for longer with less time spent in ill health highlight the importance of addressing quality-of-life (QOL) assessment issues for older people. The assessment of health-related QOL (HR-QOL) has received considerable attention in the last 2–3 decades, with a wide variety of assessment instruments available. These instruments can be either generic or disease specific, health profiles or preference based.
The literature was reviewed systematically to identify studies measuring HR-QOL in older patient groups. A total of 37 studies were identified, 11 of which were randomised, controlled trials/evaluations, 14 were prospective studies that did not involve a randomised, controlled intervention, and 12 were cross-sectional studies. Studies were summarised in terms of the study aim, patient population characteristics, the instrument used to measure HR-QOL, and HR-QOL findings. A majority of studies used a generic HR-QOL instrument, the single most commonly used being the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. In many cases, a second disease-specific measure was used in combination with the generic measure. In a majority of studies involving interventions, significant improvements in HR-QOL were noted. In prospective studies, a negative impact of health conditions (e.g. myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure) was also identified using HR-QOL assessments.
None of the studies in this review used HR-QOL measurement instruments that were old-age specific. Using instruments that are not specific to a particular age group enables comparisons to be made with other age groups, i.e. younger or middle-aged groups. However, the questionnaire items of HR-QOL instruments tend to be phrased predominantly in relation to physical function and thus may inadvertently discriminate against older persons, whose physical function is likely to be not as good as that of younger people. Particular issues in the assessment of HR-QOL in older patient populations include the persistent finding of a poor relationship between QOL and disability/disease severity, the dynamic nature of QOL, and the importance of valid proxy ratings for those unable to make decisions or communicate for themselves.
It is important, therefore, that assessment of HR-QOL incorporates issues of importance to individual older people by broadening the scope of the measurement instruments, thus representing more validly the HR-QOL status of older patient groups. Future research in HR-QOL must incorporate the perspective of the individual in order to enable valid conclusions to be derived based on content that is relevant to the individual being assessed, thus informing management decisions, policy and practice more meaningfully.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Health Organization. Population ageing: a public health challenge [online]. Available from URL: http://www.who.int/ inf-fs/en/fact135.htm1 [Accessed 2003 Aug 29]
_Second World Assembly on Ageing; 2002 Apr; Madrid [online]. Available from URL: http://www.un.org/ageing [Accessed 2003 Aug 29]
WHO 55th World Health Assembly; 2002 May 13; Geneva [online]. Available from URL: http://www.who.int/gb/ EB WHA/PDF/WHA55/ea55/r/pdf [Accessed 2003 Aug 29]
Ageing and life course: WHO international day for older persons [online]. Available from URL: http://www.who.int/hpr/ ageing/index.html[Accessed 2003 Aug 29]
McKee KJ, Houston DM, Barnes S. Methods for assessing quality of life and well-being in frail older people. Psychol Health 2002; 17 (6: 737–51
Fries JF. Measuring and monitoring success in compressing morbidity. Ann Intern Med 2003; 139: 455–9
Fries JF. Aging, natural death and the compression of morbidity. N Engl J Med 1980; 303: 130–5
Department of Health (UK). National service framework for older people. London: Department of Health, 2001
Department of Health and Children (Ireland). Quality and fairness: a health system for you. Dublin: Government of Ireland, 2001
Taillefer M-C, Dupuis G, Roberge M-A, et al. Health-related quality of life models: systematic review of the literature. Soc Indic Res 2003; 64: 293–323
Higgs P, Hyde M, Wiggins R, et al. Researching quality of life in early old age: the importance of the sociological dimension. Soc Pol Admin 2003; 37 (3): 239–52
Erickson P, Patrick DL. Health status and health policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993
Hunt SM, McKenna SP, McEwen J, et al. The Nottingham Health Profile: subjective health status and medical consultations. Soc Sci Med 1981; 15: 221–9
McEwen J, McKenna SP. Nottingham Health Profile. In: Spilker B, editor. Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials. 2nd ed. Philadelphia (PA): Lippincott-Raven, 1996
Bergner M, Bobbitt RA, Carter WB, et al. The sickness impact profile: development and final revision of a health status measure. Med Care 1981; 19: 787–805
Bergner M. Development, testing and use of the Sickness Impact Profile. In: Walker SR, Rosser RM, editors. Quality of life assessment: key issues in the 1990s. Boston (MA): Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993
Stewart AL, Sherbourne CD, Hays RD, et al. Summary and discussion of MOS measures. In: Stewart AL, Ware JE, editors. Measuring function and well-being: the Medical Outcome Study approach. Durham (NC): Duke University Press, 1992
Stewart AL, Hays RD, Ware JE. The MOS short-form general health survey: reliability and validity in a patient population. Med Care 1998; 26: 724–35
Ware JE, Sherboume CD. The MOS-36 item short-form health survey (SF-36): I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care 1992; 30: 473–81
Ware JE, Snow KK, Kosinski M, et al. SF-36 Health Survey: manual and interpretation guide. Boston (MA): The Health Institute, New England Medical Centre, 1993
Brazier JE, Harper R, Jones N, et al. Validating the SF-36 health survey questionnaire: a new outcome measure for primary care. BMJ 1992; 305: 160–4
Jenkinson C, Coulter A, Wright L. Short-form-36 (SF-36) health survey questionnaire: normative data for adults of working age. BMJ 1993; 306: 1437–40
Meenan RF, Gertman PM, Mason JH. Measuring health status in arthritis: the arthritis impact measurement scales. Arthritis Rheum 1980; 23: 146–52
Vickrey BG, Hays RD, Harooni R, et al. A health-related quality of life measure for multiple sclerosis. Qual Life Res 1995; 4: 187–206
Golomb BA, Vickrey BG, Hays RD. A review of health-related quality-of-life measures in stroke. Pharmacoeconomics 2001; 19: 155–85
Guyatt G, Feeny D, Patrick D. Measuring health-related quality of life. Ann Inten Med 1993; 118: 622–9
Kaplan RM, Anderson JP. The General Health Policy model: an integrated approach. In: Spilker B, editor. Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials. 2nd ed. Philadelphia (PA): Lippincott-Raven Publishers, 1996
Kaplan RM, Sieber WJ, Ganlats TG. The Quality of Well-Being Scale: comparison of the interview-administered version with a self-administered questionnaire. Psychol Health 1997; 12: 783–91
The EuroQol Group. EuroQol: a new facility for the measurement of health-related quality of life. Health Policy 1990; 16: 199–208
Kind P. The EuroQol instrument: and index of health-related quality of life. In: Spilker B, editor. Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials. 2nd ed. Philadelphia (PA): Lippincott-Raven Publishers, 1996
Coons SJ, Rao S, Keininger DL, et al. A comparative review of generic quality-of-life instruments. Pharmacoeconomics 2000; 17: 13–35
_Current status of WHOQOL-OLD [online]. Available from URL: http://www.who.dk/eprise/main[WH0/Progs/HEA/ Quality/ [Accessed 2004 Jun 22]
Baldassarre FG, Arthur HM, Dicenso A, et al. Effect of coronary artery bypass graft surgery on older women’s health-related quality of life. Heart Lung 2002; 31: 421–31
Bernsten C, Bjorkman I, Caramona M, et al. Pharmaceutical Care of the Elderly in Europe Research (PEER) Group. Improving the well-being of elderly patients via community pharmacy-based provision of pharmaceutical care: a multicentre study in seven European countries. Drugs Aging 2001; 18: 62–77
Gardner AW, Katzel LI, Sorkin JD, et al. Exercise rehabilitation improves functional outcomes and peripheral circulation in patients with intermittent claudication: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Geriatr Soc 2001; 49: 755–61
Girotto JA, Schreiber J, Nahabedian MY. Breast reconstruction in the elderly: preserving excellent quality of life. Ann Plast Surg 2003; 50: 572–8
Harrison MB, Browne GB, Roberts J, et al. Quality of life of individuals with heart failure: a randomized trial of the effec-tiveness of two models of hospital-to-home transition. Med Care 2002; 40: 271–82
Jenkinson C, Jenkinson D, Shepperd S, et al. Evaluation of treatment for congestive heart failure in patients aged 60 years and older using generic measures of health status (SF-36 and COOP charts). Age Ageing 1997; 26: 7–13
Katsura H, Yamada K, Kida K. Usefulness of a linear analog scale questionnaire to measure health-related quality of life in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003; 51: 1131–5
Kressin NR, Spiro A, Skinner KM. Negative affectivity and health-related quality of life. Med Care 2000; 38: 858–67
Lamas GA, Orav EJ, Stambler BS, et al. Quality of life and clinical outcomes in elderly patients treated with ventricular pacing as compared with dual-chamber pacing. N Engl J Med 1998; 338: 1097–104
Lisse J, Espinoza L, Zhao SZ, et al. Functional status and healthrelated quality of life of elderly osteoarthrifc patients treated with celecoxib. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2001; 56: M167–75
Mangione CM, Gutierrez PR, Lowe G, et al. Influence of age-related maculopathy on visual functioning and health-related quality of life. Am J Ophthalmol 1999; 128: 45–53
Pearson S, Stewart S, Rubenach S. Is health-related quality of life among older, chronically ill patients associated with un-planned readmission to hospital? Aust N Z J Med 1999; 29: 701–6
Rebollo P, Ortega F, Baltar JM, et al. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients over 65 years. Geriatr Nephrol Urol 1998; 8: 85–94
Seki E, Watanabe Y, Sunayama S, et al. Effects of phase III cardiac rehabilitation programs on health-related quality of life in elderly patients with coronary artery disease: Juntendo Cardiac Rehabilitation Program (J-CARP). Circ J 2003; 67: 73–7
Stadnyk K, Calder J, Rockwood K. Testing the measurement properties of the short form-36 health survey in a frail elderly population. J Clin Epidemiol 1998; 51: 827–35
Weinberger M, Nagle B, Hanlon IT, et al. Assessing health-related quality-of-life in elderly outpatients: telephone versus face-to-face administration. J Am Geriatr Soc 1994; 42: 1295–9
Jenkinson C, Layte R, Jenkinson D, et al. A shorter form health survey: can the SF-12 replicate results from the SF-36 in longitudinal studies? J Public Health Med 1997; 19: 179–86
Côté I, Farris K, Feeny D. Is adherence to drug treatment correlated with health-related quality of life? Qual Life Res 2003; 12: 611–23
Martensson J, Dracup K, Canary C, et al. Living with heart failure: depression and quality of life in patients and spouses. J Heart Lung Transplant 2003; 22: 459–67
Nemey MP, Chin MH, Jin L, et al. Factors associated with older patients’ satisfaction with care in an inner-city emergency department. Ann Emerg Med 2001; 38: 140–5
Chin MH, Jin L, Karrison TG, et al. Older patients’ healthrelated quality of life around an episode of emergency illness. Ann Emerg Med 1999; 34: 275–593
Chin MH, Wang LC, Jin L, et al. Appropriateness of medication selection for older persons in an urban academic emergency department. Acad Emerg Med 1999; 6: 1232–42
Van Jaarsveld CHM, Sanderman R, Miedema I, et al. Changes in health-related quality of life in older patients with acute myocardial infarction or congestive heart failure: a prospective study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2001; 49: 1052–8
Wandell PE, Tovi J. The quality of life of elderly diabetic patients. J Diabetes Complications 2000; 14: 25–30
Cowley AJ, Wiens BL, Segal R, et al. Evaluation of Losartan in the elderly: randomised comparison of losartan vs. captopril on quality of life in elderly patients with symptomatic heart failure: the losartan heart failure ELITE quality of life sub-study. Qual Life Res 2000; 9: 377–84
Ferrucci L, Baldasseroni S, Bandinelli S, et al. Disease severity and health-related quality of life across different chronic conditions. J Am Geriatr Soc 2000; 48: 1490–5
Jaeschke R, Guyatt G, Gerstein H, et al. Does treatment with L-thyroxine influence health status in middle-aged and older adults with subclinical hypothyroidism? J Gen Intern Med 1996; 11: 744–9
Marchionni N, Fattirolli F, Fumagalli S, et al. Determinants of exercise tolerance after acute myocardial infarction in older persons. J Am Geriatr Soc 2000; 48: 146–53
Callahan CM, Haag KM, Weinberger M, et al. Outcomes of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy among older adults in a community setting. J Am Geriatr Soc 2000; 48: 1048–54
Kasckow JW, Twamley E, Mulchahey JJ, et al. Health-related quality of well-being in chronically hospitalized patients with schizophrenia: comparison with matched outpatients. Psychiatry Res 2001; 103: 69–78
Patterson TL, Shaw W, Semple SJ, et al. Health-related quality of life in older patients with schizophrenia and other psychoses: relationships among psychosocial and psychiatric factors. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 1997; 12: 452–60
Degl’Innocenti A, Elmfeldt D, Hansson L, et al. Cognitive function and health-related quality of life in elderly patients with hypertension: baseline data from the Study on Cognition and Prognosis in the Elderly (SCOPE). Blood Press 2002; 11: 157–65
Tidermark J, Zethraeus N, Svensson O, et al. Femoral neck fractures in the elderly: functional outcome and quality of life according to EuroQol. Qual Life Res 2002; 11: 473–81
Furlong W, Feeny D, Torrance GW, et al. Guide to design and development of health-state utility instrumentation. Hamilton, Canada: McMaster University Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis Working Paper 90-9, 1990
Fries JF, Ramey DR. ‘Arthritis specific’ global health analog scales assess ‘generic’ health related quality-of-life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 1997; 24: 1697–702
Cline CMJ, Willenheimer RB, Erhardt LR, et al. Health-related quality of life in elderly patients with heart failure. Scand Cardiovasc J 1999; 33: 278–85
Terada S, Ishizu H, Fujisawa Y, et al. Development and evaluation of a health-related quality of life questionnaire for the elderly with dementia in Japan. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2002; 17: 851–8
Scilley KAY, Owsley C. Vision-specific health-related quality of life: content areas for nursing home residents. Qual Life Res 2002; 11: 449–61
Rector TS, Kubo SH, Cohn JN. Patient’s self-assessment of their congestive heart failure: content, reliability and validity of a new measure: the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Heart Fail 1987; 3: 198–209
Rector TS, Kubo SH, Cohn JN. Validity of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire as a measure of therapeutic response to enalapril or placebo. Am J Cardiol 1993; 71: 1106–7
Middel B, Bouma J, de Jongsta M, et al. Psychometric properties of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHF-Q). Clin Rehabil 2001; 15 (5): 489–500
Carlsson CM, Papcke-Benson K, Carries M, et al. Health-related quality of life and long-term therapy with pravastatin and tocopherol (vitamin E) in older adults. Drugs Aging 2002; 19: 793–805
Leventhal H, Colman S. Quality of life: a process view. Psychol Health 1997; 12: 753–67
Kliempt P, Ruta D, McMurdo M. Measuring the outcomes of care in older people: a non-critical review of patient-based measures: I. General health status and quality of life instru-ments. Rev Clin Gerontol 2000; 10: 33–42
McDowell I, Newell C. Measuring health: a guide to rating scales and questionnaires. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996
Bowling A. Measuring disease. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1995
Bowling A. Measuring health: a review of quality of life mea-surement scales. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1997
Cockerman WC, Sharp K, Wilcox JA. Aging and perceived health status. J Gerontol 1983; 38: 349–55
Roberts G. Age effects and health appraisal: a meta-analysis. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 1999 Jan; 54 (1): S24–30
Benyamini Y, Leventhal EA, Leventhal H. Elderly people’s ratings of the importance of health-related factors to their selfassessments of health. Soc Sci Med 2003; 56: 1661–7
Benyamini Y, Idler EL. Community studies reporting association between self-rated health and mortality: additional studies, 1995-1998. Res Aging 1999; 21: 392–401
O’Boyle CA. Measuring the quality of later life. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 1997, 1879
Devinsky O, Vickrey BG, Cramer J, et al. Development of the quality of life in epilepsy inventory. Epilepsia 1995; 36 (11): 1089–104
Bowling A, Banister D, Sutton S, et al. A multidimensional model of the quality of life in older age. Aging Ment Health 2002; 6: 355–71
Joyce CRB, O’Boyle CA, McGee H. Individualising quality of life: approaches to conceptualisation and assessment. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1999
Ferrans CE, Powers MJ. Quality of Life Index: development and psychometric properties. ANS Adv Nurs Sci 1985; 8: 15–24
Ferrans CE, Powers MJ. Psychometric assessment of the Quality of Life Index. Res Nurs Health 1992; 15: 29–38
Ruta DA, Garratt AM, Leng M, et al. A new approach to the measurement of quality of life: the Patient Generated Index. Med Care 1994; 32: 1109–26
McGee HM, O’Boyle CA, Hickey A, et al. Assessing the quality of life of the individual: the SEIQoL with a healthy and a gastroenterology unit population. Psychol Med 1991; 21: 749–59
O’Boyle CA, McGee HM, Hickey A, et al. Individual quality of life in patients undergoing hip replacement. Lancet 1992; 339: 1088–91
Joyce CRB, Hickey A, McGee HM, et al. A theory-based method for the evaluation of individual quality of life the SEIQoL. Qual Life Res 2003; 12: 275–80
Hickey AM, Bury G, O’Boyle CA, et al. A new short-form quality of life measure (SEIQoL-DW): application in a cohort of individuals with HIV/AIDS. BMJ 1996; 313: 29–33
Browne JP, O’Boyle CA, McGee HM, et al. Development of a direct weighting procedure for quality of life domains. Qual Life Res 1997; 6: 301–9
Robbins RA, Simmons Z, Bremer BA, et al. Quality of life in ALS is maintained as physical function declines. Neurology 2001 Feb 27; 56 (4): 442–4
Hardiman O, Hickey A, O’Doherty LJ. Quality of life and physical decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Other Motor Neuron Disord 2004; 5 (4): 230–4
Waldron D, O’Boyle CA, Kearney M, et al. Quality-of-life measurement in advanced cancer: assessing the individual. J Clin Oncol 1999; 17: 3603–11
Stuifbergen AK. Health-promoting behaviors and quality of life among individuals with multiple sclerosis. Sch Inq Nurs Pract 1995; 9: 31–50
Gignac MA, Cott C, Badley EM. Adaptation to chronic illness and disability and its relationship to perceptions of independence and dependence. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2000; 55: P362–72
Singer MA, Hopman WM, MacKenzie TA. Physical functioning and mental health in patients with chronic medical conditions. Qual Life Res 1999; 8: 687–91
Baltes PB, Baltes MM, editors. Successful ageing: perspectives from behavioural sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990
Baltes PB, Staudinger UM, Lindenberger U. Lifespan psychology: theory and application to intellectual functioning. Annu Rev Psychol 1999; 50: 471–507
Schwartz CE, Sprangers MAG. Methodological approaches for assessing response shift in longitudinal quality of life research. Soc Sci Med 1999; 48: 1531–48
Schwartz CE, Sprangers MAG, editors. Adaptation to changing health: response shift in quality-of-life research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2000
Yip JY, Wilber KH, Myrtle RC, et al. Comparison of older adult subject and proxy responses on the SF-36 health-related quality of life instrument. Aging Ment Health 2001; 5 (2): 136–42
Sprangers MA, Aaronson NK. The role of health care providers and significant others in evaluating the quality of life of patients with chronic disease: a review. J Clin Epidemiol 1992; 45: 743–60
Harper AC, Harper DA, Chambers LW, et al. An epidemiological, description of physical, social and psychological problems in multiple sclerosis. J Chronic Dis 1986; 39: 305–10
Prutkin JM, Feinstein AR. Quality-of-life measurements: origin and pathogenesis. Yale J Biol Med 2002; 75: 79–93
Acknowledgements
No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this review. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this review.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hickey, A., Barker, M., McGee, H. et al. Measuring health-related quality of life in older patient populations. Pharmacoeconomics 23, 971–993 (2005). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200523100-00002
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200523100-00002