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New trends on health related quality of life assessment in end-stage renal disease patients

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Abstract

Health related quality of life (HRQOL) is auseful measure in the analysis of the output ofmedical interventions in groups of chronicpatients like end-stage renal disease (ESRD)patients. From the 1980s to the present day, theinterest in evaluating the HRQOL of ESRDpatients has been continually growing. A reviewof published studies shows the existence ofimportant differences in the applied conceptualmodel of HRQOL, in the assessment instrumentsused, in the methods of data collectionrecording, and in the results andconclusions. In this paper we tried to answer some of themain questions which could appear whennephrologists begin to use the HRQOL measureswith renal patients: we clearly define theconcept of HRQOL; we made recommendations aboutthe instruments to evaluate HRQOL (generic vsspecific instruments); and we show how torefine a HRQOL score to make it practical andcomprehensible (the standardization of thescores by age and gender).

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  1. Institute ``Reina Sofía for Nephrological Research, Nephrology Unit, Hospital Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain

    Pablo Rebollo & Francisco Ortega

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Rebollo, P., Ortega, F. New trends on health related quality of life assessment in end-stage renal disease patients. Int Urol Nephrol 33, 195–202 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014419122558

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