Quality of life is a broad, multidimensional concept of an individual’s subjective evaluation of aspects of his/her life as diverse as physical, social, spiritual and emotional well-being, as well as possibly touching on others areas such as his/her environment, employment, education and leisure time. Within this wide-ranging definition health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is used to refer to the impact a medical condition and/or treatment has on a patient’s functioning and well-being. HRQOL is increasingly being measured in clinical trials alongside other outcome measures to evaluate the full range of effects of an intervention (e.g. a new medicine) from the patients’ perspective. For instance, in oncology trials symptom burden may be measured in addition to survival and progression-free survival.
How to cite: Quality of Life [online]. (2016). York; York Health Economics Consortium; 2016. https://yhec.co.uk/glossary/quality-of-life/