RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Temporal change in health-related quality of life: a longitudinal study in general practice 1999–2004
JF British Journal of General Practice
JO Br J Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP 839
OP 843
DO 10.3399/bjgp09X472890
VO 59
IS 568
A1 Michelle L Hazell
A1 Julie A Morris
A1 Mary F Linehan
A1 Timothy L Frank
YR 2009
UL http://bjgp.org/content/59/568/839.abstract
AB Background In order to assess and plan for changing healthcare needs, the lack of available information regarding temporal changes in the health-related quality of life of a population must be addressed.Aim This paper aims to describe such changes over 5 years in a general population.Design of study Longitudinal postal questionnaire study.Setting UK general practice.Method This was a longitudinal postal questionnaire study in two general practice populations, using the generic instrument EQ-5D to measure health-related quality of life. Individuals were included if they responded to three postal surveys in 1999, 2001, and 2004 and there were three consecutive values of EQ-5Dindex available between 1999 and 2004.Results A total of 2498 subjects were included in the study. After adjustment for potential confounders (including ageing), health-related quality of life declined significantly over the observation period. The change in EQ-5Dindex was from 0.79 to 0.74 and for EQ-5Dvas 76.8 to 73.3 (P for both trends <0.001).Conclusion Health-related quality of life deteriorated in these populations over 5 years. In an era of improvements in mortality, this has important implications for the use of health-related quality of life data in healthcare planning and resource allocation.