Can you measure the quality of this life? Interview by Lauren M. Walker.
The value and application of quality of life measurements in evaluating health care remain difficult to determine and controversial. Can quality of life be measured in a meaningful way? Can improved quality of life be connected to productivity improvements or other cost factors? We talked to two of the liveliest (and most opinionated) researchers in the field of quality of life outcomes assessment. Paul C. Langley, PhD, is currently employed by 3M Pharmaceuticals as U.S. and international manager of health economics. Before that, he was director of the Program in Pharmaceutical Economics and Health Systems Research at the University of Colorado. Marcia A. Testa, MPH, PhD, is a senior lecturer in biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health and a consultant with Phase V Technologies Inc., a firm that assists health care organizations in outcomes trials. Here are their thoughts on the state of the art.
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D004526:Efficiency; D004651:Employment; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D014481:United States