Transcending tradition: Quality of life as the inextricable link between activities of daily living and specific organ and disease states

Abstract

We review the conceptualization of quality of life (QOL) past and present, providing a new definition that transcends the traditional approach. We discuss the importance of QOL as a mandatory assessment in patient care and clinical trials, concurring with the need for disease-specific tools and focusing on a nerve fiber-specific tool for assessing impacts of diabetic neuropathies on QOL and activities of daily living (ADLs) used in multi-center clinical trials and translated into different languages. By relating neuropathic disabilities to different nerve fibers, the Norfolk Quality of Life – Diabetic Neuropathy (QOL-DN) is able to measure impacts of nerve-fiber-specific neurotrophic therapies, providing pertinent endpoints to changes in health status and QOL.

Citation

Vinik, E.J. and Vinik, A.I. (2007), "Transcending tradition: Quality of life as the inextricable link between activities of daily living and specific organ and disease states", Farquhar, I., Summers, K.H. and Sorkin, A. (Ed.) The Value of Innovation: Impact on Health, Life Quality, Safety, and Regulatory Research (Research in Human Capital and Development, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 29-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0194-3960(08)16002-4