Children and adolescents, measuring the quality of life of

Abstract

In pediatrics and child health, as in other areas of health care, awareness is growing that medical parameters such as mortality and morbidity may be limited. The realization that measures of emotional and social health and well-being are equally as important as measuring the reduction of symptoms and improved survival to evaluate medical outcomes has lead to increased interest in measuring quality of life (QOL). This article discusses the measurement issues inherent in measuring the QOL for children and adolescents, describes the common characteristics of QOL instruments, and provides recommendations to select and evaluate instruments. © 2008 Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserv..