The subjective assessment of QoL includes the meaning to the individual essentially it involves the translation or appraisal of the more objective measurement of health status into the experience of QoL. 6 The objective assessment of QoL focuses on what the individual can do, and is important in defining the degree of health. 5 Third, QoL can include both objective and subjective perspectives in each domain. 4 The Group goes on to describe QoL as “the individual's perception of their position in life, in the context of culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns”. 3 This follows from the widely accepted definition of health put forward by the World Health Organisation as the state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Second, when used in a medical context, QoL is generally conceptualised as a multidimensional construct encompassing several domains. First is the idea that individuals have their own unique perspective on QoL, which depends on present lifestyle, past experience, hopes for the future, dreams, and ambition. 1, 2 Several key ideas define the concept of QoL.

QoL measures may be of potential value in comparing outcomes in clinical trials, evaluating interventions, commissioning programmes of care, assessing the outcomes of new treatments, and in audit work.Īs in adult work, issues about the definition and measurement of QoL have been a matter of considerable debate. Such an emphasis reflects contemporary views about the relation between mind and body, and acknowledges the critical link between physical and psychological health. As a consequence, there has been a call for new outcome measures that reflect a more holistic approach to management. Issues of quality of life (QoL) are also important.

Mortality is no longer viewed as the only end point when considering the efficacy of medical intervention. Advances in medical care have changed the emphasis in paediatric medicine from the diagnosis and management of infectious disease to prevention and control of chronic conditions.

Quality of life