Quality of Life Assessment in Clinical Trials: Methods and Practice

Researchers in all clinical fields are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of quality of life measurements in judging the efficacy of a given treatment, and it is becoming more common for psychological criteria to play an important role in the evaluation of therapies. In the past ten years a number of methods have been developed for carrying out such assessments. Quality of life research does however use special statistical methods which might well be unfamiliar to the clinician. Quality of life assessment in clinical trials: methods and practice explores these methods in a non-mathematical manner, comparing and contrasting the tools available to the clinician, and highlighting any potential pitfalls. It describes the methods used to collect and analyse quality of life data. The book will have widespread appeal to clinical trialists and researchers from a wide range of specialties.

Dr Maurice Staquet, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Medicine, Brussels Free University, Route de Lennick 808, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium. email: staquet@ulb.ac.be