Will Happiness-Trainings Make Us Happier? A Research Synthesis Using an Online Findings-Archive.

Most people want to be happy and many look out for opportunities to achieve a more satisfying life. Following a happiness training is an option, but the effectiveness of such training is being questioned. In this research synthesis we assessed: (1) whether happiness training techniques add to the happiness of their users, (2) how much happiness training techniques add to happiness, (3) how long the effect of happiness training lasts, (4) what kinds of training techniques work best, and (5) what types of groups of people profit from taking happiness training. We took stock of the available research and found 61 reports of effect studies on training techniques, which together yielded 179 findings. These findings are available in an online "findings archive," the World Database of Happiness. Using links to this source allows us to condense information in tabular overviews, while providing the reader with access to much detail. Happiness training techniques seem to do what they are designed to do: 96% of the studies showed a gain in happiness post intervention and at follow-up, about half of the positive results were statistically significant. Studies with cross-sectional designs and studies that used control groups showed more mixed results. The average effect of happiness training was approximately 5% of the scale range. We conclude that taking a form of happiness training is advisable for individuals looking for a more satisfying life. Since happier workers tend to be more productive, organizations would be wise to provide such training techniques for their workforce.

The use of disease-specific outcome measures in cost-utility analysis: the development of Dutch societal preference weights for the FACT-L scale.

INTRODUCTION: The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) is a validated, sensitive and reliable patient questionnaire that evaluates and quantifies quality of life (QOL) across several domains, including lung cancer-related symptoms. The FACT-L was not designed for use in economic evaluation and does not incorporate preferences into its scoring system. OBJECTIVE: To derive a set of Dutch preference weights for FACT-L health states that can be used to convert FACT-L into a single value that can be used in cost-utility analyses. METHODS: A representative sample of the Dutch population (n = 1076) directly valued an orthogonal set of eight FACT-L health states on a 100-point rating scale with the anchor points 'worst imaginable health state' and 'best imaginable health state'. Eleven FACT-L items were selected to describe the FACT-L health states that were directly valued. Regression analysis was used to interpolate values for all other possible health states. Scores were transformed into values on a scale where 0 indicated dead and 1 indicated full health. RESULTS: The estimated values for FACT-L health states ranged from 0.08 to 0.93. The estimated value sets were applied to FACT-L data of lung cancer patients participating in a clinical study. Significant differences in the mean value and mean gain of 0.12 and 0.07, respectively, were found between patients in remission and patients with progressive disease at 4 weeks' follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our results reaffirmed that the methodology used here is a feasible option to convert data collected with a disease-specific outcome measure into preferences. We concluded that the sensitivity of the derived set of societal preferences to capture differences and changes in clinical health states is an indication of its construct validity.

Self-reported quality of life in elderly patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with CHOP chemotherapy.

We studied the impact of CHOP chemotherapy on the quality of life (QoL) of elderly patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). 132 patients aged 65 or older, who participated in a randomized, multicenter trial, completed QoL questionnaires (EuroQol-5D, EORTC QLQ-C30 and MFI-20) on 8 predefined time-points before, during and following treatment. At baseline, QoL was significantly better on almost all dimensions in patients with a lower compared to patients with a higher age-adjusted International Prognostic Index (aaPI). During treatment, physical and role functioning and global QoL deteriorated and fatigue increased in the lower aaPI group, whereas QoL of the higher aaPI group remained stable. During follow-up, the QoL was significantly better for patients in complete response (CR) or partial remission (PR) than for patients with progression/relapse. Soon after completion of therapy, the QoL of the lower aaPI group returned to pretreatment levels or better, while patients with higher aaPI showed a significant improvement in QoL compared to baseline levels. The effect of CHOP on the quality of life of elderly patients could be used in counseling this group of patients.

Cost-effectiveness and quality of life of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (filgrastim) after radical vulvectomy and bilateral inguino-femoral lymphadenectomy: results of a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of filgrastim on the incidence of wound infection, quality of life and costs after a radical vulvectomy and bilateral inguino-femoral lymphadenectomy. STUDY DESIGN: In a prospective, randomized clinical trial 40 patients were treated with either filgrastim or placebo for 9 consecutive days starting at the day before surgery. Data on wound healing was scored up to 56 days postoperatively. Quality of life was measured and cost data were collected. Statistical analyses used were the Mann-Whitney test and the Student's t-test. RESULTS: The clinical results showed no differences in wound infection between both groups. The average score on the EuroQol showed that patients felt worst in the week after surgery. Treatment costs were higher in the filgrastim group versus the placebo group. CONCLUSION: Filgrastim does not improve wound healing after radical vulvectomy, does not improve quality of life and is not cost-effective. However, the postoperative stay after radical vulvectomy is relatively long due to wound healing problems and has a major impact on the patient's quality of life.