Quality of life: some measurement requirements

The current view of quality of life as subjective responses is briefly reviewed. A new view emphasizing quality of life as the reciprocal relationships between persons and their environments is presented conceptually. This ecological view of quality of life is illustrated by summarizing 2 analyses conducted on a large archive of detailed data descriptive of the actual functional performance of 15 patients with spinal cord injury during 1st hospitalization for comprehensive rehabilitation. The 1st analysis identifies generic dimensions of patients' behavior during hospitalization. These behavioral vital signs represent the minimum requirements for measuring quality of life. The 2nd analysis demonstrates that the measures of performance during hospitalization have an extremely high level of predictive validity in the community or postdischarge environment. Thus, the minimum requirements for measuring quality of life should include measures of actual functioning along the generic dimensions.