Abstract
This chapter examines first some general issues about the concept of quality of life, in particular, in relation to unidimensional versus multidimensional approaches. These issues are then examined in relation to the WHOQOL group of measures. Analyses are then summarised from a variety of datasets that have been collected with the WHOQOL measures that address the issue of universality versus cultural-specificity of aspects of quality of life. While the data provide clear support for universal aspects of quality of life, nevertheless, it is also argued that there is a need to respect the limitations of this universality.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Psychiatric Association (1994)Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(Fourth Edition). Author, Washington, DC.
Bentler, P. M., & Wu, E. J. C. (1995).EOSfor Windows Users Guide.Encino, Multivariate Software, Inc, CA.
Bullinger, M (2001). The challenge of cross-cultural quality of life assessmentPsychology and Health(in press)
Bullinger, M., Power, M. J., Aaronson, N. K., Cella, D. F., & Anderson, R. T. (1996) Creating and evaluating cross-cultural instruments. In B. Spilker (Ed.)Quality of Life and Pharmacoeconomics in Clinical Trials(2nd Ed.). Lippincott-Raven, Hagerstown, MD
Cummins, R.A. (1996). The domains of life satisfaction: An attempt to order chaos.Social Indicators Research 38303–332
Dupuy, H.J. (1984). The Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) Index. In N K Wenger, M.E Mattson, C.D. Furberg, & J. Elinson (Eds)Assessment of quality of life in clinical trials of cardiovascular therapies.New York: Le Jacq.
EuroQOL Group (1990). EuroQOL — a new facility for the measurement of health-related quality of life.Health Policy 16199–208
Hagerty, M.R., Cummins, R.A., Ferris, A.L., Land, K., Michalos, A.C., Peterson, M, Sharpe, A., Sirgy, J., & Vogel, J (2001). Quality of life indexes for national policy Review and agenda for research.Social Indicators Research 551–91.
Jenkins, J.H., Kleinman, A. and Good, B.J. (1991). Cross-cultural studies of depression. In J. Becker, A. Kleinman (Eds.)Psychosocial Aspects of DepressionHillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum
Karnofsky, D., & Burchenal, J (1949).The Clinical Evaluation of Chemotherapeutic Agents in CancerNew York: Columbia Press.
Maslow, A.H. (1970).Motivation and Personality(2). New York: Harper and Row.
Power, M.J., Bullinger, M., Harper, A., WHOQOL Group (1999) The World Health Organization WHOQOL-100’ Tests of the universality of quality of life in 15 different cultural groups worldwide.Health Psychology 18495–505.
Power, M.J., & Dalgleish, T. (1997).Cognition and Emotion: From Order to Disorder.Hove. Psychology Press
Sen, A (2001). Economic progress and health. In D.A. Leon,G. Watt (Eds.)Poverty, Inequality, and Health: An International Perspective.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Spilker, B. (1990). Introduction In B. Spilker (Ed)Quality of Life Assessments in Clinical Trials.New York: Raven Press.
Spilker, B. (1996). Introduction. In B. Spilker (ed.)Quality of Life and Pharmacoeconomics in Clinical Trials(2nd Ed.). Lippincott-Raven, Hagerstown, MD.
Tabachnick, B.G. and Fidell, L.S. (2001).Using Multivariate Statistics(4th Ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Torrance, G.W. (1996) Designing and conducting cost-utility analyses. In B. Spilker (ed.)Quality of Life and Pharmacoeconomics in Clinical Trials(2nd Ed.). Lippincott-Raven, Hagerstown, MD.
Ware, J. E. (1996). The SF-36 health survey. In B Spilker (Ed.)Ouality of Life and Pharmacoeconomics in Clinical Trials(2nd Ed.). Lippincott-Raven, Hagerstown, MD.
Ware, J.E., Sherbourne, C.D. (1992). The MOS 36-item short-form health status survey (SF-36): 1. Conceptual framework and item selection.Medical Care 30473–483.
The WHOQOL Group (1995). The World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL). Position paper from the World Health Organization.Social Science and Medicine 411403–1409.
Psychological The WHOQOL Group (1998a) The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL): Development and general psychometric properties.Social Science and Medicine 461569–1585.
The WHOQOL Group (1998b). Development of The World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF Quality of Life Assessment.Psychological Medicine 28551–558
World Health Organization (1958).The First Ten Years of the World Health Organization.Geneva: World Health Organization.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Power, M.J., Bullinger, M., The Whoqol Group. (2002). The Universality of Quality of Life: An Empirical Approach Using the Whoqol. In: Gullone, E., Cummins, R.A. (eds) The Universality of Subjective Wellbeing Indicators. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0271-4_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0271-4_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3960-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0271-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive