Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19142744›Full record

Trial reportQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2009

Meaning behind measurement: self-comparisons affect responses to health-related quality of life questionnaires.

Clare Robertson, Anne L Langston, Sally Stapley, Elaine McColl, Marion K Campbell, William D Fraser, Graeme Maclennan, Peter L Selby, Stuart H Ralston, Peter M Fayers and 1 more

Abstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
7.1field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Quality of Life and Value Assessment in Health Care.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2020
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Death by a thousand cuts: The health implications of black respectability politics.Souls : a critical journal of Black politics, culture, and society · 2016
    Article
  5. Response shift effect on gastrointestinal quality of life index after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2011
    Article
  6. Putting the text back into context: toward increased use of mixed methods for quality of life research.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2010
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Clare RobertsonHealth Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB25 22D, UK. c.robertson@abdn.ac.uk
Anne L Langston
Sally Stapley
Elaine McColl
Marion K Campbell
William D Fraser
Graeme Maclennan
Peter L Selby
Stuart H Ralston
Peter M Fayers
PRISM Trial Group
University of Aberdeen · GBNewcastle University · GBNHS Tayside · GBUniversity of Edinburgh · GBUniversity of Liverpool · GBUniversity of Manchester · GB

Funding

Arthritis Research UKChief Scientist Office HSRU1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe subjective nature of quality of life is particularly pertinent to the domain of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) research. The extent to which participants' responses are affected by subjective information and personal reference frames is unknown. This study investigated how an elderly population living with a chronic metabolic bone disorder evaluated self-reported quality of life.

methodsParticipants (n = 1,331) in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial for the treatment of Paget's disease completed annual HRQOL questionnaires, including the SF-36, EQ-5D and HAQ. Supplementary questions were added to reveal implicit reference frames used when making HRQOL evaluations. Twenty-one participants (11 male, 10 female, aged 59-91 years) were interviewed retrospectively about their responses to the supplementary questions, using cognitive interviewing techniques and semi-structured topic guides.

resultsThe interviews revealed that participants used complex and interconnected reference frames to promote response shift when making quality of life evaluations. The choice of reference frame often reflected external factors unrelated to individual health. Many participants also stated that they were unclear whether to report general or disease-related HRQOL.

conclusionsIt is important, especially in clinical trials, to provide instructions clarifying whether 'quality of life' refers to disease-related HRQOL. Information on self-comparison reference frames is necessary for the interpretation of responses to questions about HRQOL.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overDiphosphonatesFemaleHealth StatusHumansMaleMiddle AgedOsteitis DeformansQuality of LifeSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited KingdomDiphosphonates

Identifiers

PMID19142744
OpenAlexW1970193286

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.