ArticleHealth and quality of life outcomes2017
A mixed methods analysis of quality of life among late-life patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses.
Article in Health and quality of life outcomes, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Longing for continuity: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research on the experience of older people living with chronic illness towards the end of life.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Pooled it
- Trial
- Quality of life among hemodialysis patients in a referral center in Kathmandu: A mixed method study.PloS one · 2025Article
- "It's very saddening, you keep on wondering when the symptoms will be over": A qualitative study exploring the long-term chikungunya disease impact on daily life and well-being, 6 years after disease onset.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Construction of life-and-death education contents for the elderly: a Delphi study.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Health-Related Quality of Life of Tuberculosis Patients and the Role of Socioeconomic Factors: A Mixed-Method Study.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2021Article
- Quality of life of parents of very preterm infants 4 months after birth: a mixed methods study.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundQuality of life (QOL) is an important consideration for people living with advancing chronic conditions. Palliative care providers speak about how, despite physical decline in late life, many patients report growth and meaning in other domains. This mixed methods study uses QOL survey responses to explore domain trajectories and interview data to explore how patients with advancing chronic conditions experience distinct QOL domains.
methodsThe study sample includes 156 now-deceased participants who completed the FACIT-Pal quarterly, and 40 (10 now-deceased) participants who discussed QOL in an interview. Mean subscale scores were plotted over participants' last 18 months to reveal QOL trajectories. Interview data were analyzed to reveal how participants' experience, actions and cognitive processes influenced QOL scores.
resultsPhysical and functional subscale ratings show gradual decline. Emotional QOL maintains with a small dip 2-3 months before death, and social QOL ratings improve in participants' final 3 months. Participants create and strengthen relationships that help them better manage health and receive instrumental and emotional support; seek activities in which they can find joy, meaning, and purpose; and support cognitions through which patients accept and communicate about illness, and emphasize positives.
conclusionQOL domains exist in different trajectories. Despite physical and functional decline, participant ratings of emotional QOL maintain and ratings of social QOL improve at end of life. Understanding the processes through which participants countered declining QOL may help providers identify how to best support and promote improved QOL for patients during their final months.
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