Är det möjligt att mäta livskvalitet hos astmatiker?

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As medical science has become more adept at keeping us alive, we can no longer solely focus on the number of years we live, but need also focus on the quality of life we achieve. Politicians and budget administrators have begun using quality of life as a tool to optimize resource and treatment allocation in healthcare. To create a tool that would measure the quality of life, questionnaires were developed for use both in general health inquiries and in disease specific studies. This is a methodological study in which the aim was to examine and compare the information derived from two questionnaires, the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and The Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ), and from a focused interview. 14 individuals with diagnosed asthma were interviewed and filled out the questionnaires during the spring of 1997. Central to this study is the difference between disease, a physical biological process, and illness, the experience of unhealth. While the group is too small for valid results a trend can be found in the answers. The questionnaires focus on the physical and social limitations, and on the emotional distress experienced by the individuals. The interview was based on the questionnaires, but a broad range of topics were discussed as introduced by the individuals participating. The results indicate that the consequences of the limitations, such as unemployment, were perceived as a bigger problem than the limitations as such. The questionnaires' methodological weaknesses, compounded by the empirical nature of their development, could be well complemented by the interview's strengths, such as the ability to recognize causal relationships. A philosophical and semantic definition of the term "quality of life" would be needed to develop a methodologically sound instrument. A multidisciplinary effort into t...