Topic
Quality of life
About: Quality of life is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 42912 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1198363 citations. The topic is also known as: life quality.
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TL;DR: A symptom-based score for neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) is developed and validated based on valid and reproducible questions and constructed a score for NBD that is correlated to impact on QOL.
Abstract: Cross-sectional questionnaire study. To develop and validate a symptom-based score for neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD): NBD score. University Hospital of Aarhus, Denmark. A questionnaire including questions about background parameters (n=8), faecal incontinence (n=10), constipation (n=10), obstructed defecation (n=8), and impact on quality of life (QOL) (n=3) was sent to 589 Danish spinal cord injured (SCI) patients. The reproducibility and validity of each item was tested in 20 and 18 patients, respectively. Associations between items and impact on QOL were determined by logistic regression analysis. The NBD score was constructed from items with acceptable reproducibility and validity that were significantly associated with impact on QOL. Based on odds ratios for associations between items and impact on QOL, each item was given a corresponding number of points in the NBD score. A total of 424 SCI patients responded. The following 10 items met the criteria above: frequency of bowel movements (0–6 points), headache, perspiration or discomfort before or during defecation (0–2 points), tablets and drops against constipation (0–2 points each), time used for each defecation (0–7 points), frequency of digital stimulation or evacuation (0–6 points), frequency of faecal incontinence (0–13 points), medication against faecal incontinence (0–4 points), flatus incontinence (0–2 points) and perianal skin problems (0–3 points). Differences in NBD score among patients reporting no, little, some or major impact on QOL were statistically significant (all P<0.001). Based on valid and reproducible questions, we have constructed a score for NBD that is correlated to impact on QOL.
258 citations
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TL;DR: There is value for both parents and children if parental concerns and determinants of QOL are considered in overall programme planning and service delivery for children and their families.
Abstract: Background Although it is expected that caring for a child with cerebral palsy (CP) can impact on the quality of life (QOL) of caregivers, the QOL of carers' has yet to be adequately examined The aims of this study are to: (1) explore the QOL of mothers and fathers of children with CP aged 3–18 years; and (2) examine whether the impact of caring for a child with CP changes from childhood to adolescence
Method A qualitative study was conducted utilizing a grounded theory framework Twenty-four mothers and 13 fathers of children and adolescents with CP aged 3–7 years (n = 15), 8–12 years (n = 10) and 13–18 years (n = 12) and with varying levels of impairment (GMFCS Level I = 1, II = 4, II = 3, IV = 5, V = 12) participated in semi-structured interviews about their QOL The transcripts were analysed to identify issues affecting parental QOL
Results There were no differences in parental QOL among subgroups (ie mothers and fathers, age groups, GMFCS levels) Parental QOL ranged across a wide spectrum Caring for a child with CP affects a parent's physical well-being, social well-being, freedom and independence, family well-being and financial stability Parents indicated that they often feel unsupported by the services they access
Conclusions Caring for a child with CP can both positively and negatively impact on a parent's life There is value for both parents and children if parental concerns and determinants of QOL are considered in overall programme planning and service delivery for children and their families
258 citations
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TL;DR: The assessment of QoL should be part of the evaluation of any nutritional support to optimize its adequacy to the patient's needs and expectations, and the literature review supports that nutritional care should be integrated into the global oncology care because of its significant contribution to quality of life.
257 citations
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TL;DR: Health-related quality of life and estimates of utility are distressingly low in persons with chronic kidney disease and self-reported outcomes should be considered when evaluating health policy decisions that affect this population.
257 citations
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TL;DR: Although survival was not expected to differ, it was predicted that functioning would be enhanced if quality of life improved, and it was concluded that enhancing the quality of survival for end‐stage cancer patients is a high priority medical goal.
Abstract: Much has been written about working with the dying. Few, if any, controlled studies have examined the application of principles set forth. The authors evaluate the effectiveness of working with dying cancer patients by assessing changes in quality of life, physical functioning, and survival. One-hundred twenty men with end-stage cancer were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups; the 62 experimental group patients were seen regularly by a counselor. Patients were assessed before random assignment and at one, three, six, nine, and 12 months on quality of live and functional status. Experimental group patients improved significantly more than the control group on quality of life within three months. Functional status and survival did not differ between groups. A subsample of lung cancer patients provided cross-validation of findings. Although survival was not expected to differ, it was predicted that functioning would be enhanced if quality of life improved. One interpretation is that little can be done to alter physical function and survival when intervention occurs late in the progression of a fatal disease. This in no way reduces the value of improving overall quality of life, since enhancing the quality of survival for end-stage cancer patients is a high priority medical goal.
256 citations