Health Qual Life Out
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Health Qual Life Out · Oct 2016
Interrelationships among common symptoms in the elderly and their effects on health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study in rural Korea.
Because the world population is aging, it has become increasingly important to focus on and meet the healthcare needs of elderly individuals. This study aims to evaluate the relationships among common symptoms experienced by the elderly, including fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, indigestion, and depression/anger/anxiety, and to assess how these symptoms affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the elderly population after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and diagnosed diseases. ⋯ Fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, and depression/anger/anxiety were correlated with one another, and they presented significant independent effects on the HRQoL of elderly individuals. Thus, multidisciplinary healthcare programs are required to address these common symptoms.
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Health Qual Life Out · Oct 2016
Measuring the impact of migraine for evaluating outcomes of preventive treatments for migraine headaches.
Migraine is characterized by headache with symptoms such as intense pain, nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia that significantly impact individuals' lives. The objective of this study was to develop a strategy to measure outcomes from the patients' perspectives for use in evaluating preventive treatments for migraine. ⋯ The impact of migraine includes impairments in functioning during and between migraine attacks that vary considerably on a daily basis. There is a need for novel PRO instruments that reflect patients' migraine experience to assess treatment benefit of migraine prophylactics. These instruments must evaluate the concepts identified and be able to capture the variability of patients' experience.
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Health Qual Life Out · Sep 2016
Comparative StudyHealth-related quality of life measured using the EQ-5D-5L: South Australian population norms.
Although a five level version of the widely-used EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) instrument has been developed, population norms are not yet available for Australia to inform the future valuation of health in economic evaluations. The aim of this study was to estimate HrQOL normative values for the EQ-5D-5L preference-based measure in a large, randomly selected, community sample in South Australia. ⋯ This is the first Australian study to apply the EQ-5D-5L in a large, community sample. Overall, findings are consistent with EQ-5D-5L utility and VAS scores reported for other countries and indicate that the majority of South Australian adults report themselves in full health. When valuing health in Australian economic evaluations, the utility population norms can be used to estimate HrQOL. More generally, the EQ-VAS score may be a better measure of population health given the smaller ceiling effect and broader coverage of HrQOL dimensions. Further research is recommended to update EQ-5D-5L population norms using the Australian general population specific scoring algorithm once this becomes publically available.
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Health Qual Life Out · Sep 2016
Assessing outcomes for cost-utility analysis in mental health interventions: mapping mental health specific outcome measure GHQ-12 onto EQ-5D-3L.
Many intervention-based studies aiming to improve mental health do not include a multi-attribute utility instrument (MAUI) that produces quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and it limits the applicability of the health economic analyses. This study aims to develop 'crosswalk' transformation algorithm between a measure for psychological distress General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and MAUI EuroQoL (EQ-5D-3L). ⋯ The algorithms developed in this study can be used to determine cost-effectiveness of services or interventions that use GHQ-12 as a primary outcome where the utility measures are not collected.
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Health Qual Life Out · Sep 2016
The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) in the general population: scale structure, reliability, measurement invariance and normative data: a cross-sectional survey.
The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) is a self-report questionnaire measuring distress, depression, anxiety and somatization with separate scales. The 4DSQ has extensively been validated in clinical samples, especially from primary care settings. Information about measurement properties and normative data in the general population was lacking. In a Dutch general population sample we examined the 4DSQ scales' structure, the scales' reliability and measurement invariance with respect to gender, age and education, the scales' score distributions across demographic categories, and normative data. ⋯ Evidence supports reliability and measurement invariance of the 4DSQ in the general Dutch population. The normative data provided in this study can be used to compare a subject's 4DSQ scores with a general population reference group.