Assessing the quality of life of patients in phase I and II anti-cancer drug trials: interviews versus questionnaires
Karen Cox
Social Science & Medicine, 2003, vol. 56, issue 5, 921-934
Abstract:
This paper discusses two different approaches to assessing quality of life in the context of cancer clinical trial participation. Drawing on empirical evidence from a study of patients' experiences of phase I and II anti-cancer drug trial participation, the paper demonstrates how different methods of collecting data about an individual's quality of life (questionnaires and interviews) can lead to alternative conclusions about patients' trial experience and the impact of trial involvement on their quality of life. Data obtained from the quality of life questionnaires interestingly revealed no statistically significant differences in any of the scores over time while in-depth interviews uncovered something of the psychological, emotional and social impact of taking part in a clinical trial from the perspective of the patient. The paper concludes by reflecting on some of the methodological issues that arise when assessing the quality of life of patients with a life threatening disease in clinical trials.
Keywords: UK; Cancer; Clinical; trials; Quality; of; life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)
Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(02)00100-4
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:56:y:2003:i:5:p:921-934
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01
Access Statistics for this article
Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian
More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().