Quality of Life (QOL) studies in Japan

Problems in the investigation of QOL

Abstract

This article describes the progress and the problems of QOL studies in the West, the development of QOL questionnaires in Japan, and studies performed using such questionnaires. In general, the same method of assessing QOL used in the West could be employed in Japan, but problems with the acceptability of the QOL questionnaires, the way of evaluating overall QOL, and the influence of information on the diagnosis of cancer were picked up. The QOL studies performed in Japan provide some answers to these problems in this review.