TABLE 3.

COMMONLY USED GENERIC MEASURES OF QUALITY OF LIFE

Method	Description	Advantages
Medical Outcomes Short Form 36 (SF-36)	Includes eight health concepts: physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health perceptions, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, and mental health (16).	The reliability and validity of the SF-36 are well documented (17–19).
EuroQol Group 5 Dimension (EQ-5D)	Includes five dimensions, each with three levels; it has been validated in postal surveys in England, Sweden, and the Netherlands	EQ-5D is now in use in a substantial number of clinical and population studies (40, 41).
Health Utilities Index (HUI2). The HUI is a family of health status and preference-based HRQOL measures (42, 43).	Consists of seven dimensions of health status: sensation, mobility, emotion, cognition, self-care, pain, and fertility (43). There are five to six levels per dimension.	Widely used in Canada and Europe. Excellent record of reliability and validity. Well-grounded in economic theory.
Self-administered Quality of Well-Being scale (QWB-SA)	Combines preference-weighted values for symptoms and functioning.	Has been used in numerous clinical trials and population studies (21–35).
Fryback Index (48)	Estimates QWB scores based on SF-36 responses.	Can be used to estimate utility data for cost-effectiveness analysis using existent SF-36 data.