Self-reported cost of illness and health-related quality of life.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate how well a rapid, self-report of the costs of illness correlates with health-related quality of life.


METHODS
A total of 211 patients, participating in a clinical trial of an arthritis medication, completed a Quality of Well-being scale interview and an 18-item self-assessment of healthcare utilization. Subjects completed both these instruments at each of three time points during the trial.


RESULTS
Correlations between the measures and across time suggest that patient-reported costs are associated with quality of life and function.


CONCLUSIONS
A self-reported cost of illness measure may provide valuable information. With the increase move to assess cost as well as health outcomes, such rapid self-report techniques may prove useful to health services researchers, healthcare system managers, and clinicians.
Ganiats
T G
TG
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA.
Sieber
W J
WJ
Weisman
M
M
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001168:Arthritis / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards