Comparison of two instruments for measurement of quality of life in clinical practice - a qualitative study

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Abstract

Background

The study aimed to investigate the meaning patients assign to two measures of quality of life: the Schedule for Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW) and the SEIQoL-DW Disease Related (DR) version, in a clinical oncology setting. Even though the use of quality of life assessments has increased during the past decades, uncertainty regarding how to choose the most suitable measure remains. SEIQoL-DW versions assesses the individual’s perception of his or her present quality of life by allowing the individual to nominate the domains to be evaluated followed by a weighting procedure resulting in qualitative (domains) as well as quantitative outcomes (index score).

Methods

The study applied a cross-sectional design with a qualitative approach and collected data from a purposeful sample of 40 patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Patients were asked to complete two measures, SEIQoL-DW and the SEIQoL-DR, to assess quality of life. This included nomination of the areas in life considered most important and rating of these areas; after completion patients participated in cognitive interviews around their selections of areas. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim which was followed by analysis using a phenomenographic approach.

Results

The analyses of nominated areas of the two measures resulted in 11 domains reflecting what patients perceived had greatest impact on their quality of life. Analysis of the cognitive interviews resulted in 16 thematic categories explaining the nominated domains. How patients reflected around their quality of life appeared to differ by version (DW vs. DR). The DW version more often related to positive aspects in life while the DR version more often related to negative changes in life due to having cancer.

Conclusions

The two SEIQoL versions tap into different concepts; health-related quality of life, addressing losses and problems related to having cancer and, quality of life, more associated with aspects perceived as positive in life. The SEIQoL-DR and the SEIQoL-DW are recommended in clinical practice to take both negative and positive aspects into account and acting on the problems of greatest importance to the patient.

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Most cited references 26

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Applying phenomenography in nursing research.

L Dahlgren, Björn Sjöström (2002)

This paper examines phenomenography, a research approach designed to answer certain questions about how people make sense of their experience. The research approach, developed within educational research, is a content-related approach investigating the different qualitative ways in which people make sense of the world around them. The outcomes of phenomenographic research are different content-related categories describing the differences in other people's ways of experiencing and conceiving their world. The research approach is presented by describing the underlying ontological and epistemological assumptions, describing the research method in detail and providing some examples of phenomengraphic studies in health care and nursing research. The possibilities for applying the methodology to nursing research are discussed, illustrated by research examples. Finally, the future role of the approach within nursing research is discussed. The emphasis on differences in the phenomenographical research approach makes it distinct from other research approaches, and accordingly, it seems to be reasonable to incorporate knowledge of this kind in the professional education of health care personnel.

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Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy and physical exercise in alleviating treatment-induced menopausal symptoms in patients with breast cancer: results of a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial.

Neil K. Aaronson, Saskia Duijts, Timothy Kieffer … (2012)

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), physical exercise (PE), and of these two interventions combined (CBT/PE) on menopausal symptoms (primary outcome), body image, sexual functioning, psychological well-being, and health-related quality of life (secondary outcomes) in patients with breast cancer experiencing treatment-induced menopause. Patients with breast cancer reporting treatment-induced menopausal symptoms (N=422) were randomly assigned to CBT (n=109), PE (n=104), CBT/PE (n=106), or to a waiting list control group (n=103). Self-report questionnaires were completed at baseline, 12 weeks, and 6 months. Multilevel procedures were used to compare the intervention groups with the control group over time. Compared with the control group, the intervention groups had a significant decrease in levels of endocrine symptoms (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Endocrine Symptoms; P<.001; effect size, 0.31-0.52) and urinary symptoms (Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Questionnaire; P=.002; effect size, 0.29-0.33), and they showed an improvement in physical functioning (36-Item Short Form Health Survey physical functioning subscale; P=.002; effect size, 0.37-0.46). The groups that included CBT also showed a significant decrease in the perceived burden of hot flashes and night sweats (problem rating scale of the Hot Flush Rating Scale; P<.001; effect size, 0.39-0.56) and an increase in sexual activity (Sexual Activity Questionnaire habit subscale; P=.027; effect size, 0.65). Most of these effects were observed at both the 12-week and 6-month follow-ups. CBT and PE can have salutary effects on endocrine symptoms and, to a lesser degree, on sexuality and physical functioning of patients with breast cancer experiencing treatment-induced menopause. Future work is needed to improve the design and the planning of these interventions to improve program adherence.

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A new short form individual quality of life measure (SEIQoL-DW): application in a cohort of individuals with HIV/AIDS.

F O'Kelly, C. O'Boyle, W D Shannon … (1996)

Quality of life is an increasingly important outcome measure in medicine and health care. Many measures of quality of life present patients with predetermined lists of questions that may or may not be relevant to the individual patient. This paper describes a brief measure, the SEIQoL-DW, which is derived from the schedule for evaluation of individual quality of life (SEIQoL). The measure allows respondents to nominate the areas of life which are most important, rate their level of functioning or satisfaction with each, and indicate the relative importance of each to their overall quality of life. Given its practicality and brevity, the measure should prove particularly useful in clinical situations where patient generated data on quality of life is important. This article describes the first clinical application of the measure, assessing the quality of life of a cohort of patients with HIV/AIDS managed in general practice.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Lena Wettergren: lena.wettergren@ki.se

Mathilde Hedlund Lindberg: mathilde.hedlund-lindberg@ki.se

Åsa Kettis: asa.kettis@uadm.uu.se

Bengt Glimelius: bengt.glimelius@onkologi.uu.se

Lena Ring: lena.ring@mpa.se

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Med Res Methodol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Med Res Methodol

Title: BMC Medical Research Methodology

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2288

Publication date (Electronic): 9 October 2014

Publication date PMC-release: 9 October 2014

Publication date Collection: 2014

Volume: 14

Issue: 1

Electronic Location Identifier: 115

Affiliations

[ ]Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden

[ ]Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

[ ]Department of, Radiology, Oncology and Radiation Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

[ ]Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Article

Publisher ID: 1129

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2288-14-115

PMC ID: 4210549

PubMed ID: 25300493

SO-VID: c10ffb9f-50a1-43d1-897c-8fe3d6e73045

License:

This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 14 February 2014

Date accepted : 2 October 2014

Custom metadata

ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine

Keywords: cognitive interviews,gastrointestinal cancer,health-related quality of life,measures,seiqol,quality of life

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine

Keywords: cognitive interviews, gastrointestinal cancer, health-related quality of life, measures, seiqol, quality of life

Comparison of two instruments for measurement of quality of life in clinical practice - a qualitative study

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Most cited references 26

Applying phenomenography in nursing research.

Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy and physical exercise in alleviating treatment-induced menopausal symptoms in patients with breast cancer: results of a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial.

A new short form individual quality of life measure (SEIQoL-DW): application in a cohort of individuals with HIV/AIDS.

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