Assessment of quality of life among pediatric patients with cancer.

Historical foundations of quality of life (QL) assessment, including those in adult oncology, are reviewed in the context of the current need for a developmental measure for clinical pediatric research. QL measures that can be applied to the assessment of children with cancer and other chronic and life-threatening diseases are urgently needed. Use of valid QL scales would facilitate the evaluation of patient status over time as well as the comparison of results of patients with different diagnoses, treatment histories, and outcomes of therapy. The attributes of an effective QL measure, based on clinical experience in pediatric oncology settings, include simplicity and brevity as well as conventional psychometric properties. Psychologists, in collaboration with their pediatric oncologist colleagues, are encouraged to develop new QL assessment methods. Suggestions are given for studies necessary to accomplish this goal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)