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.

The impact of a coordinated transitional care programme on adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Abstract: Objective. There is an extensive evidence base for the need of transitional care, but a paucity of robust outcome data. The aim of the study was to determine whether the quality of life of adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) could be improved by a co-ordinated, evidence-based programme of transitional care. Methods. Adolescents with JIA aged 11, 14 and 17yrs and their parents were recruited from 10 rheumatology centres in the UK. Data were collected at baseline, 6 and 12 months including core outcome variables. The primary outcome measure was health-related quality of life (HRQL): Juvenile Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire (JAQQ). Secondary outcome measures included: knowledge, satisfaction, independent health behaviours and pre-vocational experience. Results. Of the 359 families invited to participate, 308 (86%) adolescents and 303 (84%) parents accepted. A fifth of them had persistent oligoarthritis. Median disease duration was 5.7 (0-16) yrs. Compared with baseline values, significant improvements in JAQQ scores were reported for adolescent and parent ratings at 6 and 12 months and for most secondary outcome measures with no significant deteriorations between 6 and 12 months. Continuous improvement was observed for both adolescent and parent knowledge with significantly greater improvement in the younger age groups at 12 months (P=0.002). Conclusions. This study represents the first objective evaluation of an evidence-based transitional care programme and demonstrates that such care can potentially improve adolescents' HRQL.

Impact of COVID-19 on Economic Well-Being and Quality of Life of the Vietnamese During the National Social Distancing

Abstract: Starting from April 1st, 2020, the nationwide partial lockdown in Vietnam has shown the effectiveness in stopping the community transmission of COVID-19, however, it also produced adverse impacts on the economy and inhabitants' life. A cross-sectional study using a web-based approach was conducted in the second week of April 2020 to examine the influence of the national social distancing on the quality of life and economic well-being of Vietnamese citizens under COVID-19 pandemic. The data included socio-economic characteristics, impact of COVID-19 on household income, health status, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Ordered logistic regression and multivariable Tobit regression model were employed to examine factors correlated to income change and HRQOL. Results showed that among 341 participants, 66.9% reported household income loss due to the impact of COVID-19. People holding undergraduate degrees, working in other sectors rather than healthcare, and having definite-term contract had a higher likelihood of income reduction. The mean score of EQ-5D-5L and EQ-VAS was 0.95 (± 0.07) and 88.2 (± 11.0), respectively. The domain of Anxiety/Depression had the highest proportion of reporting any problems among 5 dimensions of EQ-5D-5L (38.7%). Being female, having chronic conditions and living in the family with 3-5 members were associated with lower HRQOL scores. A comprehensive assessment of the influence of COVID-19 along with public health interventions, especially mental health programs, should be implemented to mitigate the negative effects of this pandemic on the economic status and quality of life of citizens.

Pretreatment, preoperative swallowing exercises may improve dysphagia quality of life.

Abstract: Objectives: Dysphagia is commonly associated with head and neck cancer treatment. Traditional dysphagia management strategies focus on post-treatment therapy. This study evaluated the utility of pretreatment swallowing exercises in improving post-treatment swallowing quality of life (QOL). Study Design: Prospective cohort study and cross-sectional QOL analysis. Methods: This study includes 37 patients who underwent primary radiation or combined chemoradiation treatment for newly diagnosed hypopharyngeal, laryngeal, or oropharyngeal primary tumors at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Of the 37, 25 patients underwent swallowing exercises beginning 2 weeks prior to the start of radiation. The M.D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) was administered an average of 14 months after treatment to assess the success of the protocol. Analysis of QOL scores related to gender, primary site, stage, and race were obtained. Results: Patients who performed pretreatment swallowing exercises (n = 25) showed improvement in the overall MDADI score (P = .0002) compared to the control population (n = 12) who underwent post-treatment therapy. Furthermore, a separate analysis of individual domains of the MDADI (global, emotional, functional, and physical) demonstrated improved quality of life. Conclusions: Implementation of pretreatment swallowing education and exercise may improve dysphagia-specific QOL in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation and/or chemoradiation therapy.

Health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease measured with the short form-36: Psychometric assessments and a comparison with general population norms

Abstract: Background: We compared health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a population-based cohort of Norwegian patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with a normal reference population by means of the short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire, including the effect of age, sex, educational status, and symptom severity and the psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Methods: The SF-36 was self-administered and was answered by the patients at the hospital at 2 occasions that were 6 months apart. Results: Five hundred fourteen patients with IBD were eligible for analysis: 348 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 166 with Crohn's disease (CD). The comparison group consisted of 2323 Norwegian people. The dimension scores for SF-36 were significantly lower in 6 of 8 dimensions for patients with UC and in 7 of 8 dimensions for patients with CD than for the reference population. In both patients with UC and patients with CD, we found lower scores in elderly patients, which also was found in the background population. Women scored lower than men in all dimension scores. In both patients with UC and patients with CD, there was a statistically significant reduction in HRQOL score with increasing symptoms. The SF-36 has satisfactory reliability and discriminant ability for scores for all dimensions in both patients with UC and patients with CD. However, when measuring responsiveness, the figures were generally low. This finding, together with the high ceiling effects, may indicate that the SF-36 has limitations regarding detecting deterioration or improvement over time. Conclusion: We have shown that HRQOL in a Norwegian population-based cohort of patients with IBD, measured with the SF-36, is lower than that of a Norwegian reference population. In general, the SF-36 was found to have satisfactory psychometric properties in this IBD population.