Quality Of Life Measures For People Research Articles

A randomized controlled pilot study of the therapeutic effects of yoga in people with Parkinson′s disease

Background:Exercise can be beneficial for cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal or neurological systems, and other factors including mood, and may be beneficial in reducing fall risks, dementia and variables associated with quality of life (QOL). Parkinson's disease (PD) produces progressive motor and cognitive deterioration that may leave those inflicted unable to participate in standard exercise programs. Alternative forms of exercise such as yoga may be successful in improving physical function, QOL and physiological variables for overall well-being.Aim:This randomized controlled pilot study investigated the effectiveness of yoga intervention on physiological and health-related QOL measures in people with PD.Methods and Materials:Thirteen people with stage 1-2 PD were randomized to either a yoga (n = 8) or a control group (n = 5). The yoga group participated in twice-weekly yoga sessions for 12 weeks. Participants were tested at baseline, and at 6 and 12 weeks using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), clinical measures of health-related QOL and physiological measures.Results:Significant improvement in UPDRS scores (P = .006), diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.036) and average forced vital capacity (P = 0.03) was noted in the yoga group over time. Changes between groups were also noted in two SF-36 subscales. Positive trends of improvement were noted in depression scores (P = 0.056), body weight (P = 0.056) and forced expiratory volume (P = 0.059). Yoga participants reported more positive symptom changes including immediate tremor reduction.Conclusions:The results suggest that yoga may improve aspects of QOL and physiological functions in stages 1-2 PD. Future larger studies are needed to confirm and extend our findings of the effects of yoga in PD.

Review: A systematic review of quality of life measures for people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours

The quality of life (QOL) construct is proposed as a method to assess service outcomes for people utilising disability services. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of available QOL measures for people with intellectual disability (ID) to pinpoint psychometrically sound measures that can be routinely used for service evaluation. A systematic search of the disability literature published between 1980 and 2008 was conducted in order to identify appropriate QOL tools for use within an Australian context. Twenty-four QOL instruments were identified and each instrument was then evaluated against a set of psychometric and measurement criteria. Six of the instruments examined were deemed to be psychometrically sound on the available information. No instruments were found that specifically assess QOL for people with ID who exhibit challenging behaviour. Most of the instruments assess QOL from a subjective perspective, use a questionnaire format and measure only some (not all) of the eight theoretically accepted domains of QOL. More instruments that measure QOL need to be developed and rigorously validated. This is especially the case for high-needs disability populations like those individuals that exhibit challenging behaviour or have severe to profound ID, as it is questionable whether existing measures can be used with these populations.

Quality of life of people with epilepsy in the United States

Health care provision in the United States is driven by the fact that most health insurance is commercial and private. This leads to the tendency to view patients as units that will produce a future cash yield. The quality of life (QOL) movement in the United States is in some ways a response to this view and has a role in convincing insurers that new treatments and techniques are worth increased expenditure. In the case of epilepsy, QOL research has become essential in improving the quality of care offered to people with epilepsy. In this review, some of the outcomes of using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy questionnaire are reviewed, the preliminary data from a community-based study of people with epilepsy are described, and recent studies comparing QOL in epilepsy and other neurologic and nonneurologic diseases are discussed. This review illustrates the complexity of QOL issues and the need for the widespread use of QOL measures in people with epilepsy.