title: Accuracy of health-related quality of life assessment: what is the benefit of incorporating patients' preferences for domain functioning?
abstract: This study investigated the accuracy benefit of incorporating patients' preferences for domains of functioning into health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measurement. Using policy-capturing techniques, 102 medical outpatients judged the HRQOL of 16 scenarios describing varying levels of functioning in 3 domains. For each participant, regression analysis determined relative domain preferences and 2 decision models were built: one incorporating (preference-weighted) and one ignoring (equally weighted) domain preferences. To assess accuracy, the average proportion of judgment variance accounted for by each model was determined and both accounted for approximately 50%. However, for patients showing the greatest differences in importance across domains, the preference-weighted model was more accurate. Findings are discussed in the context of enhancing HRQOL assessment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, College of Education, University of Iowa, USA. gorbatenkok@uwstout.edu
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Gorbatenko-Roth
authors.forename: I P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Altmaier
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Doebbeling
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity