June 2016

Choosing a measure of Health Related Quality of Life P.G. Robinson This paper provides practical advice on the choice of health related quality of life measures. It starts by making explicit a series of underlying assumptions and then advises on selecting a measure as a trade-off between three sets of conditions: • The purpose of collecting HQoL information, which considers the objectives of the study, the level of analysis, the population to be studied and the audience to whom the data will be presented. • The qualities of the measure, including the need for a strong conceptual basis, pragmatic considerations, face and content validity, adequate psychometric properties and for the measure to be acceptable to the people participating in the study. • The use of the measure, including the mode of administration and resource requirements. Key words: health related quality of life, methodology, psychometrics, methods, scales, investigative techniques