scholarly journals Sarcopenia, A Booming Concern of Ageing World: A Review

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-115
Author(s):  
Md Shahidur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Care Costs

Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength with a risk of adverse outcomes such as physical disability, poor quality of life and death. With the onset of advancing age, muscle tissue is gradually lost, resulting in diminished mass and strength, a condition referred to as sarcopenia. The sequelae of sarcopenia often contribute to frailty, decreased independence, and subsequently increased health care costs. This review article will introduce potential mechanisms that may contribute to sarcopenia, although no one mechanism has yet, and may not completely, define this process. Despite sarcopenia is an inevitable process of life, prevention and treatments are absolutely needed in order to improve the quality of life and quality adjusted life years. Adequate nutrition and structured exercises are essential components of treatment and prevention. However, even those individuals who maintain their fitness through exercise do not appear to be immune to sarcopenia. Bangladesh Journal of Neuroscience 2015; Vol. 31 (2): 110-115

scholarly journals Measurement of Quality of Life VI. Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) is an Unfortunate Use of the Quality-of-Life Concept

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1015-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Ventegodt ◽  
Joav Merrick ◽  
Niels Jorgen Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Quality Factor ◽  
High Tech ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life

The QALY (quality-adjusted life years) attempts to incorporate the dimension of quality of life into the evaluation by adjusting life years by a quality factor. In practice, this is based on discussing with people the progression of a number of hypothetical illnesses and their ensuing side effects. From this information, the person assesses how each state of health described compares with a theoretical maximum state of health. For example, 1 day with a certain condition might the equivalent of living only 0.5 days in good health.We believe that QALY value only represents a superficial impression of a person's quality of life. In short, the QALY does not express what it means for a person to live a life at reduced quality. We believe that if the patients were optimally informed and allowed to decide for themselves, they would more often reject high-tech expensive biomedical treatments that only serve to prolong life and do not increase its quality. The problem of priorities may then turn out to be far more simple and also more ethical: the focus will be on the quality of life, not on QALY, and the question of the meaning of life and death will achieve greater openness and respect.

Utilities and Quality-Adjusted Life Years

1989 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
George W. Torrance ◽  
David Feeny
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cost Utility ◽  
Health Improvement ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Utility Analysis ◽  
Quality Adjustment ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life ◽  
Broad Overview

Utilities and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are reviewed, with particular focus on their use in technology assessment. This article provides a broad overview and perspective on these two techniques and their interrelationship, with reference to other sources for details of implementation. The historical development, assumptions, strengths/weaknesses, and applications of each are summarized.Utilities are specifically designed for individual decision-making under uncertainty, but, with additional assumptions, utilities can be aggregated across individuals to provide a group utility function. QALYs are designed to aggregate in a single summary measure the total health improvement for a group of individuals, capturing improvements from impacts on both quantity of life and quality of life– with quality of life broadly defined. Utilities can be used as the quality-adjustment weights for QALYs; they are particularly appropriate for that purpose, and this combination provides a powerful and highly useful variation on cost-effectiveness analysis known as cost-utility analysis.

Quality of life and quality-adjusted life years of chronic schistosomiasis mansoni patients in Brazil in 2015

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 238-244
Author(s):  
Gilmara Lima Nascimento ◽  
Ana Lúcia Coutinho Domingues ◽  
Ricardo Arraes de Alencar Ximenes ◽  
Alexander Itria ◽  
Luciane Nascimento Cruz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Schistosomiasis Mansoni ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life

scholarly journals The Use of “Quality-Adjusted Life Years” (QALYs) to Evaluate Treatment in Intensive Care

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Kerridge ◽  
P. P. Glasziou ◽  
K. M. Hillman
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Patient Outcome ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Pulmonary Oedema ◽  
Trauma Patients ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Economic Justification ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life

This study examines the feasibility of using Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) to assess patient outcome and the economic justification of treatment in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). 248 patients were followed for three years after admission. Survival and quality of life for each patient was evaluated. Outcome for each patient was quantified in discounted Quality-Adjusted Life Years (dQALYs). The economic justification of treatment was evaluated by comparing the total and marginal cost per dQALY for this patient group with the published cost per QALY for other medical interventions. 150 patients were alive after three years. Quality of life for most longterm survivors was good. Patient outcome (QALYs) was greatest for asthma and trauma patients, and least for cardiogenic pulmonary oedema. The tentative estimated cost- effectiveness of treatment varied from AUD $297 per QALY for asthma to AUD $2323 per QALY for patients with pulmonary oedema. This compares favourably with many preventative and non-acute medical treatments. Although the methodology is developmental, the measurement of patient outcome using QALYs appears to be feasible in a general hospital ICU.

Comparative effectiveness of treatment options for pediatric craniopharyngiomas

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zarina S. Ali ◽  
Robert L. Bailey ◽  
Lawrence B. Daniels ◽  
Venus Vakhshori ◽  
Daniel J. Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Treatment Guidelines ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Surgical Approaches ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Subtotal Removal ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life

Object No clear treatment guidelines for pediatric craniopharyngiomas exist. The authors developed a decision analytical model to evaluate outcomes of 4 surgical approaches for craniopharyngiomas in children, including attempted gross-total resection (GTR), planned subtotal removal plus radiotherapy, biopsy plus radiotherapy, and endoscopic resections of all kinds. Methods Pooled data, including the authors' own experience, were used to create evidence tables, from which incidence, relative risks, and summary outcomes in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were calculated for the 4 management strategies. Results Quality-adjusted life years at the 5-year follow-up were 2.3 ± 0.1 for attempted GTR, 2.9 ± 0.2 for planned subtotal removal plus radiotherapy, 3.9 ± 0.2 for biopsy plus radiotherapy, and 3.7 ± 0.2 for endoscopic resection (F = 17,150, p < 0.001). Similarly, QALYs at 10-year follow-up were 4.5 ± 0.2 for attempted GTR, 5.7 ± 0.5 for planned subtotal removal plus radiotherapy, and 7.8 ± 0.5 for biopsy plus radiotherapy (F = 6,173, p < 0.001). On post hoc pairwise comparisons, the differences between all pairs compared were also highly significant (p < 0.001). Since follow-up data at 10 years are lacking for endoscopic cases, this category was excluded from 10-year comparisons. Conclusions Biopsy with subsequent radiotherapy is the preferred approach with respect to improved overall quality of life. While endoscopic approaches also show promise in preserving quality of life at five-year follow-up, there are not sufficient data to draw conclusions about this comparison at 10 years.

Impact of Financial Burden of Cancer on Survivors' Quality of Life

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 332-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Fenn ◽  
Suzanne B. Evans ◽  
Ruth McCorkle ◽  
Michael P. DiGiovanna ◽  
Lajos Pusztai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cancer Survivors ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Independent Predictor ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Care Costs ◽  
Financial Burden Of Cancer

Increased financial burden as a result of cancer care costs is the strongest independent predictor of poor quality of life among cancer survivors.

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