Quality of life in multiple sclerosis
- Department of Clinical Neurology
- Radcliffe Infirmary
- Woodstock Road
- Oxford OX2 6HE, UK
- Telephone 01865 224 237; fax:01865 790 493; emailpeter.rothwell@clneuro.ox.ac.uk
“Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than an exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise.”
Tukey JW. Ann Math Statistics1962:33;13–14
There has been an upsurge in interest in health related quality of life (HRQoL) in the medical literature over the past few years. MEDLINE (1966–98) contains over 24 000 papers identified by the search term quality of life, the vast majority of which were published within the past five years. Of the 100 or so papers linking quality of life and multiple sclerosis, 80% were published since 1991. Despite this level of interest in HRQoL, many clinicians still mistrust such social science type research. Data are perceived to be vague and to lack validity when compared to hard laboratory derived information. We would rather put our faith in our own measurements, or those of …
