Health-related quality of life of day-case surgery patients: a pre/posttest survey using the EuroQoL-5D.
OBJECTIVE
This paper describes and compares the perceived health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of day-case surgery patients before and after their procedures and examines some associated patient-related factors.


METHODS
A pre/posttest survey design was employed to collect data from Finnish adult day-case surgery patients using participant-completed EuroQoL 5-Dimensional Classification Component Scores (EQ-5D) questionnaires given 2 weeks presurgery (n = 131) and 2 weeks postsurgery (n = 131) in 2004.


RESULTS
No noticeable change after minor surgery was found using the EQ-5D. Using the EQ-5D index, patients perceived their HRQoL as high before and after surgery. Almost one fifth (17%) reported no pain or discomfort before the procedure compared with 40% after it. As measured by the EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ(VAS)), those patients who reported chronic illness before the operation had a lower perception of their HRQoL compared with those who did not. It was also found that self-care and usual activities were more disturbed after surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
Although there were increases and decreases within items of the EQ-5D, overall, there was no improvement on EQ-5D scores. More research is needed to explore the sensitivity and responsiveness of the EQ-5D measure in day-case surgery patients.
Suhonen
Riitta
R
Health Care District of Forssa, Forssa, Finland. suhonen.riitta@kolumbus.fi
Virtanen
Heli
H
Heikkinen
Katja
K
Johansson
Kirsi
K
Kaljonen
Anne
A
Leppänen
Tiina
T
Salanterä
Sanna
S
Leino-Kilpi
Helena
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires