title: Building a bridge for integrating Chinese medicine into conventional healthcare: observations drawn from the development of the Chinese quality of life instrument.
abstract: This paper describes the methods and theories of patient-reported outcomes, in particular to the health-related quality of life recently applied in Chinese medicine research. It begins with an investigation of the reasons for a patient-reported outcomes measure for Chinese medicine and the development of a new health-related quality of life instrument based on Chinese culture and Chinese medicine. Discussions on the importance and application of patient-reported outcomes as well as the relationship between quality of life and Chinese medicine are at the focus of this paper. Through a description of the Chinese Quality of Life Instrument and its development, the present work demonstrates an evidence-based approach using patient-reported outcomes or health-related quality of life measures to evaluate treatment efficacy of Chinese medicine, and thereby build a bridge for the integration of Chinese medicine into mainstream health care.
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Division, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Kelvin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires