Open AccessStabilising the construct of health related quality of life: 1970-2007
Author(s) -
David Armstrong
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
science and technology studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2243-4690
DOI - 10.23987/sts.55241
Subject(s) - construct (python library) , centrality , process (computing) , quality (philosophy) , quality of life (healthcare) , rhetorical question , psychology , epistemology , sociology , engineering ethics , computer science , engineering , philosophy , mathematics , linguistics , combinatorics , psychotherapist , programming language , operating system
This paper describes the process by which the construct of health related quality of life was stabilised as an important goal of medicine. From its initial rhetorical use in the 1970s through periods of advocacy and methodological development the construct was finally stabilised through the appearance and application of formal quality of life instruments in medical research and clinical practice. Yet despite the centrality of quality of life measurement for modern medicine and its current operationalisation in over a thousand questionnaires, the underlying construct remains contested and can still be described as a ‘loose concept’.