Health-related quality of life: the forgotten outcome in healthcare changes in recent years in Portugal.
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) issues have acquired an important role not only in clinical trials, but also in daily clinical practice, and HRQoL is considered an important patient-reported outcome, particularly in chronic diseases. HRQoL is frequently forgotten when health outcomes are analyzed, both at the micro and macro level. The improvement of some health indicators of the Portuguese National Health Service in recent years is briefly discussed. Routine HRQoL measurement is rare, and is needed in order to provide better decision-making in Portugese healthcare. Some research groups interested in this theme in Portugal are presented, and give us hope that this picture may already be changing.
Pimentel
Francisco L
FL
Secção Autónoma de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Oncology Department, Hospital São Sebastião, 4520-211 Santa Maria Feira, Portugal; Instituto CUF Diagóstico e Tratamento, 4460-188 Senhora de Hora, Portugal. fpimentel@ua.pt.