Measuring Quality of Life in Individuals with Diverse Chronic Conditions (303569)

Keywords: quality of life, disability, chronic illness

Quality of life (qol) is an important supplement of medical and clinical measures when monitoring the progression of a chronic illness or the impact of a treatment. Currently there is a wide range of generic qol measures that aim to measure qol in a population consisting of persons with and without chronic conditions. However, often generic qol measures fail to include issues important for individuals with chronic conditions, resulting in problems when comparing their qol to others. Condition specific qol measures also makes comparison across diverse conditions difficult as the specific questions relating to one condition may be difficult or impossible for others to answer.

In total, 55 persons (10--40 yrs) with a variety of physical and mental chronic conditions of varying severity were interviewed. Study participants were selected to obtain diversity in types of chronic conditions. The interviews were semi-structured, and group interviews were stratified by age and gender. Data were coded and conceptualized in thematic concepts in accordance with the existing literature. The concepts were operationalized by empirical indicators and made into items.

In total, six concepts were identified as important across chronic conditions. Well-being, Function & Health, Environment, Social network, Occupation and Coping strategies. Exhaustion, predictability and worries about the future were empirical indicators found to be highly important to the qol in individuals with chronic conditions. Questions on these aspects can be answered regardless of having a chronic condition or not.