Thomas P. Broughan
Question:175 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Health and Children the plans he has to introduce new quality of life indicators in the area of health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20491/00]
Written Answers. - Quality of Life Indicators.
Quality of life in relation to health is a broader concept than personal health status and also takes social well-being into account. There is no consensus over a single definition of quality of life although there is general agreement that its components include functional ability, including work-related functioning, degree and quality of social interaction, psychological well-being, coping with pain and self-assessed satisfaction with life. It is, therefore, a complex concept representing individual responses to the physical, mental and social effects of illness and the extent to which these influence personal satisfaction with life.
Based on the above considerations, there are as yet no internationally agreed composite measures for assessing quality of life. The World Health Organisation – WHO – is engaged in an EU-funded project – EUROHIS – with the aim of arriving at agreed indicators across a range of data amenable to collection by means of health interview surveys. While agreement has been reached in a number of areas, work is still ongoing with respect to quality of life indicators.
Traditionally, life expectancy has been used as a composite measure to the extent that, at a population level, longevity can serve as a proxy for good health. More recently, the concept of disability-adjusted life expectancy – DALE – has been introduced which allows the estimation of life expectancy free from disability. The WHO uses this measure in its recent report on health systems, and my Department recognises its added-value in providing a more informative measure of health than simple life expectancy measures. The WHO also utilises an indicator of equality of child survival which can also be a useful measure of underlying health. In addition to these indicators, my Department is also following closely other developmental work in relation to a range of new quality of life indicators. Most of these fall under the heading of health expectancy measures and can be expressed in terms of life expectancy in a defined state of health such as impairment, disability, self-rated health and other concepts.