title: Prospectively measured 10-year changes in health-related quality of life and comparison with cross-sectional estimates in a population-based cohort of adult women and men.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To prospectively assess changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) over 10 years, by age and sex, and to compare measured within-person change to estimates of change based on cross-sectional data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study completed the 36-item short form (SF-36) in 1995/1997 and 2005/2007. Mean within-person changes for domain and summary components were calculated for men and women separately, stratified by 10-year age groups. Projected changes based on published age- and sex-stratified cross-sectional data were also calculated. Mean differences between the two methods were then estimated, along with the 95 % credible intervals of the differences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data were available for 5,569/9,423 (59.1 %) of the original cohort. Prospectively collected 10-year changes suggested that the four physically oriented domains declined in all but the youngest group of men and women, with declines in the elderly men exceeding 25 points. The four mentally oriented domains tended to improve over time, only showing substantial declines in vitality and role emotional in older women, and all four domains in older men. Cross-sectional estimates identified a similar pattern of change but with a smaller magnitude, particularly in men. Correspondence between the two methods was generally high.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Changes in HRQOL may be minimal over much of the life span, but physically oriented HRQOL can decline substantially after middle age. Although clinically relevant declines were more evident in prospectively collected data, differences in 10-year age increments of cross-sectional data may be a reasonable proxy for longitudinal changes, at least in those under 65 years of age. Results provide additional insight into the natural progression of HRQOL in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Centre, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada, Hopmanw@kgh.kari.net.
authors.forename: Wilma M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Hopman
authors.forename: Claudie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jerilynn C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Prior
authors.forename: Tanveer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Towheed
authors.forename: Tassos
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Anastassiades
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hanley
authors.forename: Emmanuel A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Papadimitropoulos
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kirkland
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Josse
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goltzman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002170:Canada; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires