ABSTRACT
Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a construct that focuses on the capacity for living afforded by the health status of a patient. Measurement of HRQOL allows a composite estimation of the capacity for living of a patient and can help capture the suffering experienced by the patient due to adverse effects of therapeutic interventions. This study was conducted to understand the health-related quality of life of cancer patients undergoing various modalities of treatment to generate evidence source for need-based intervention, to assess patients diagnosed with cancers, using Health Utilities Index - 3 (HUI-3?) and assign them single-score values to gauge HRQOL and to measure the various domains of HRQOL and change in HRQOL after a period of three months of treatment. Methods: A descriptive, longitudinal study was conducted amongst patients aged more than 18 years, who were diagnosed with cancer at a tertiary care multispecialty hospital in New Delhi. They were administered a standardized HUI-3 Questionnaire? and their responses were recorded, simultaneously. Statistical significance for change in HRQOL score was assessed with paired t-test. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify the various correlates of HRQOL. Results: The mean (± standard deviation) overall HRQOL score for all participants was 0.71 (± 0.262) [range=-0.09 to 1.00]. A follow-up assessment was carried out after three months and changes in health scores were subsequently recorded. A significant decrease in mean overall HRQOL score was seen for the entire group after three months of having been administered treatment. Single-attributes of emotion and ambulation were maximally affected amongst cancer patients after three months of treatment. On linear regression analyses, baseline HRQOL was a significant correlate of HRQOL at follow-up after three months. Conclusion: Addressing the HRQOL of a cancer patient before starting treatment would address morbidity that might be present even after three months.
ABSTRACT
Conjoint analysis was used to assess resident preference for teaching hospitals that offer postgraduate clinical training programs. Data for the analysis were collected from 46 clinical residents who participated in an emergency room seminar held in July 2005. Categories that received high utility scores in the attributes of teaching hospitals were “hospital has a renowned teaching doctor”, “hospital is partnered with overseas institutions”, “conferences/study sessions are held more than 8 times per month”, “bedside teaching takes place daily”, “a monthly salary of 500, 000 yen”, “80 working hours per week”, “the hospital is located in a nearby city”, and “the hospital is not affiliated with a university” . Conjoint analysis is a useful analytical method for developing education systems and programs, as it can predict the degree of change in resident preference made by improving these categories.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: There has been no data on health related quality of life (HRQOL) in general Korean population. Assessing factors affecting HRQOL in Koreans is fundamental in HRQOL research. The objective of this study is to assess HRQOL in Korean using Korean version of EQ-5D (KEQ-5D). METHODS: HRQOL was assessed using KEQ-5D from 1,044 randomly selected population representing general Korean population with telephone interview RESULT: The mean KEQ-5D utility score in Korean was 0.88 (range: -0.59~1.00). Sociodemographic data showed relatively higher score in male, younger, well educated, higher income, and white color people. Among a variety of diseases, gastric ulcer/gastritis, arthritis, hypertension diabetes, low back pain were common in Korea. The most significant chronic diseases influencing Koreans were gastrointestinal disorder and arthritis. CONCLUSION: This paper suggests basic information on HRQOL in Korean and can be a useful parameter in comparison in the future research.