Abstract

PINZON FLOREZ, Carlos Eduardo. Questions and Requirements of Quality of Life Research in Oncology. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2010, vol.39, n.1, pp.153-167. ISSN 0034-7450.

Introduction: During the last two decades, there has been an explosion of studies assessing the quality of life. Main methodological strategies have been addressed, including the optimal choice of instrument, basic psychometric properties and times of evaluation of quality of life. Objectives: To provide basic definitions and tools, to describe the existing tools, and to articulate the challenges of interpreting studies of quality of life. Methods: We conducted a narrative literature search with the following search strategy "('Quality of Life'[MeSH] AND ('Research'[MeSH] OR 'Epidemiologic Research Design'[MeSH] OR 'Health Services Research'[MeSH])) AND ('Oncology Service, Hospital'[MeSH] OR 'Medical Oncology' [MeSH]). The search comprised the period between 1966 and 2007. The search strategy was adapted to each of the searchable databases: Medline, Cochrane, LILACS and SciELO. Results: 189 articles were found by title and abstract, of which 54 were selected for this review. Four articles were not obtained for not having access to relevant journals. Conclusions: The quality of life has become a topic of interest to many researchers in oncology since it is not enough to increase survival time, inasmuch as a standard quality of life must ensue from the medical treatment as well

Keywords : Quality of life; neoplasms; validation studies; medical oncology.

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