Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessment is an important outcome from health care treatments. In the busy medical research world where patients may be feeling sick and/or tired, it needs to be collected with short, easy to use instruments.

This study describes the development of a short, 8-item generic HRQoL instrument, the AQoL-8.

Item response theory analysis identified the best items from the larger AQoL instrument, and a short descriptive system constructed. The AQoL-8 is weighted with time trade-off values.

The resulting AQoL-8 was then compared with the original AQoL and other short measures of HRQoL. The results showed it performed as least as well as these other instruments.

Author A/Professor Hawthorne comments, "By answering 8 questions, a person's quality of life can be assessed in just one or two minutes using the AQoL-8. Scores can be presented as either a profile across each of the 8 items, or as a utility index on a life-death scale suitable for use in the calculation of quality-adjusted life years (QALYS) for used in economic cost utility analysis. The AQoL-8 may be used where a short measure of HRQoL is needed."

The complete article will be discussed in a future issue of Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and outcomes Research.

Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) publishes papers, concepts, and ideas that advance the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research and help health care leaders to make decisions that are solidly evidence-based. The journal is published bi-monthly and has a regular readership of over 4,000 clinicians, decision-makers, and researchers worldwide.

ISPOR is a nonprofit, international organization that strives to translate pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research into practice to ensure that society allocates scarce health care resources wisely, fairly, and efficiently.

Source
ISPOR