Health-Related Quality of Life in Health Care

Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is a cornerstone in the evaluation of modern medicines, health care practice and other medical interventions. It is of increasing importance in healthcare in the context of the rapidly growing power, variety and expense of modern medicines. Whether generic or condition specific, many instruments have been developed to ensure that clinical studies consider the needs of patients. These can be used to demonstrate the efficacy of a new technology, to document the burden associated to a given disease, to support and inform health policy, pricing and reimbursement decision making.

In health economics, it is useful to perform cost-effectiveness and cost-utility studies by
considering the preferences of patients. The World Health Organization, for instance, undertakes cost-effectiveness and cost-utility assessments of interventions across national boundaries. In the UK, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has been established with a specific aim of advising on ‘current best practice’, and will ‘address cost as well as clinical effectiveness’ of treatments in use by or under consideration for the National Health Service. Several countries have established formal guidelines, including US, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. Pharmaceutical companies are beginning to acknowledge that they will need to demonstrate cost-effectiveness in future, rather than simply effectiveness.

To date, plenty of research is conducted in this field and relates, for example, to the choice of the instrument, methodological development, ability to capture specific health dimensions, and lots more. This Research Topic is open to the subject area of health-related quality of life in health care and in clinical practice. Articles that include instrument development, new technologies, application, evaluations and outcomes are welcomed.