Quality of Life Measurement in Antidepressant Trials

Abstract

Background: Quality of life (QoL) measurement in medicine has gone a long way. It has gained popularity as a more humanitarian outcome measurement. In this paper, a review is given of its historical backgrounds with a special focus on the use of QoL assessment in psychiatry. Different theoretical concepts are discussed. A closer look is taken at the use of QoL measurements in antidepressant trials. Methods: An analysis was performed on the use of QoL measurement in recent antidepressant trials of duloxetine and escitalopram. Results: QoL measurement was found to have abandoned its initial purposes, and to have been used without any theoretical framework. Conclusions: Although frequently used in antidepressant trials, the analysis and reporting of results is virtually non-existent. It remains unclear if QoL measurement, as currently used, gives any information that is not already captured by more formal depression rating scales. The question then remains whether QoL measurement in antidepressant trials has any added value and, if so, whether this is just a story of missed opportunities.

Quality of Life in Medically Ill Persons with Comorbid Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Furthermore, the review suggests QoL as an outcome measure in somatic-psychiatric research and clinical practice. Diseases as the primary focus of medical care and the use of traditional outcome measures such as laboratory data overemphasize medical goals, while other important aspects of the patients’ health status remain unrecognized [114,115,116,117,118,119]. The use of QoL assessments in clinical practice may bring the patient’s preferred outcomes on the clinical agenda [12] and improve the patient-physician communication [120].…”

Differential effects of well-being promoting and anxiety-management strategies in a non-clinical school setting

“…This indicates that for the average student brief interventions using different strategies may yield equivalent results. There is extensive research -reviewed in detail elsewhere (Bech, 2009;de Fruyt & Demyttenaere, 2009;Fava & Tomba, 2009;Rafanelli et al, 2000;Ruini, Ottolini, Rafanelli, Tossani, Ryff & Fava, 2003) -which indicates a certain degree of inverse correlation between positive and negative affect. As a result, also in adolescent population, changes in well-being may induce a decrease in distress, and vice versa.…”

Quality of Life after Traumatic Injury: A Latent Trajectory Modeling Approach

“…abilities to pursue interests, cognitive functioning, perception of social relations, a sense of well-being, etc. Because of its complex and multidimensional nature, there are several conceptualizations of QoL measurement [3]. …”

“…However, what about the course of general QoL, which captures the broader psychological and social dimensions of life [3]? A better understanding of QoL trajectories and the interplay of factors potentially accounting for them could form an evidence base for clinicians’ decisions regarding appropriate timing of interventions.…”