Nowadays, it is very frequent when presenting a certain disease to compare its QLI to the indices of other diseases. It is not rare that some, although disturbing, basically benign conditions have the same or even worse QLI than life-threatening conditions with a poor prognosis. Has it any sense to make such comparisons, since quality of life assessment is extremely sensitive to subjective interpretation in all its steps?
Hi, interesting question. I agree that QOL is very subjective and can be ever-changing. In my opinion, QLI indices can be compared between diseases, but they cannot stand alone. They need to consider the context, behaviour, agency and characteristics of patients. Those elements have a very direct effect on QOL.
Hi Marko, that is true. What comes to mind also is that although the medical profession may give conditions a prescribed level of severity, the reality is that one single medical condition affects different people in very different ways, so yes, that adds further layers of complexity if different diseases were to be compared in terms of QLI.
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