Abstract
For most patients with chronic disease, it is often not possible to eliminate or cure their illness. The goal of treatment is improved functioning through a reduction in the symptoms or the severity of an illness, or the limitation of disease progression (Wenger et al. 1984). In this case, there may be a direct relationship between functional improvement due to the therapeutic intervention and changes in the quality of life. Despite the effectiveness of some therapies in eliminating symptoms of disease, some clinically effective therapies also create residual limitations in functional ability. The evaluation of new therapies requires a more complete understanding of the impact of the treatment on the patient’s physical, social, and psychological status. This combination of social, functional, and behavioral outcomes, or total psychosocial and physical well-being, is called quality of life.
Contributed by Dennis A. Revicki, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Battelle Medical Technology and Policy Research Center, Washington, DC.
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Luce, B.R., Elixhauser, A., Culyer, A.J. (1990). Quality of Life Assessment in Socioeconomic Evaluations. In: Culyer, A.J. (eds) Standards for the Socioeconomic Evaluation of Health Care Services. Health Systems Research. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75490-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75490-6_11
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