Page 119 - Psychology of Wounds and Wound Care in Clinical Practice ( PDFDrive )

Measuring Quality of Life 93

affect-cognition theories in psychology, which suggests that
negative emotions elicit negative thoughts about the self and
vice versa . Thus individuals who are feeling positive will fur-
ther enhance these feelings by making a comparison that
either re-enforces the superiority of their own position or
provides inspiration and hope for the future; individuals who
are feeling unhappy will boost their misery further by making
unfavourable comparisons of their own situation to that of
others or through the despair that is aroused by identification
with those who are in a worse situation than themselves. This
may also explain in part, the relationship between QoL – our
cognitive assessment of our situation – and wellbeing – how
positive we feel. Thus by compelling individuals into making
favourable social comparisons, the presence of positive emo-
tion may mediate (protect) against some of the more detri-
mental effects of living with a wound.

Measuring Quality of Life

HRQoL measurement has been considered one of the most
difficult and challenging areas faced by health care profes-
sionals (Lyons 2005 ). This is in part due to the subjective
nature of QoL, which means that it cannot be measured by
objective observation, it can only be assessed by patient self-
report measurement. Furthermore such patient reports can-
not be verified by another individual, or by observation alone
(Colver 2006 ).
HRQoL can be assessed using either qualitative or quan-
titative techniques; in practice quantitative fixed-response
measures such as questionnaires are normally used in a clini-
cal setting. Such quantitative HRQoL measurement usually
takes one of two possible approaches, generic or condition
specific assessment.
Generic questionnaires measure broad aspects of HRQoL
and provide a general sense of the effects of health on well-
being and function. Questions cover general issues of health
such as whether or not an individual has experienced any