Computerized visualization of quality of life data of individual cancer patients--the QoL-Profiler.
OBJECTIVE
Quality of life (QoL) is increasingly considered as an important endpoint in clinical studies but difficult to use in clinical practice. For daily clinical practice, we developed a computer program that is able to calculate and draw QoL profiles for individual cancer patients.


METHODS
The computer program was developed in several steps during the course of studies with different patient populations (prospective cohort study, randomised surgical trial, breast cancer patients, all tumour patients of a clinic) and using different software packages.


RESULTS
The current version is based on Microsoft ACCESS and combines QoL data and medical data. Automated QoL profile output comprises 10 scores that are of clinical relevance. Scores range from 0 (worst) to 100 (best), with 50 considered as the threshold for intervention.


CONCLUSIONS
Practitioners found QoL-profiles comprehensible and clinically useful. QoL profiles are the crucial link between the QoL concept and QoL enhancing treatment decisions.
Middeke
M
M
Marburg Interdisciplinary Tumour Centre, Philipps-University Marburg, Baldingerstrasse, 35033, Marburg, Germany. Middeke@med.uni-marburg.de
Bauhofer
A
A
Kopp
I
I
Koller
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D010820:Physicians; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012984:Software; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome