Toward a comprehensive ‘quality-of-life’ index

Any attempt to construct an overall measure of the quality-of-life (“QOL”) of a community, population group, or larger society must inevitably confront the critical obstacle posed by the absence of a common numéraire. The diverse elements that significantly affect the “QOL” of individuals and social groups are each subject, at least in principle, to some form of measurement, but no satisfactory method has yet been devised whereby these different measurements could be reduced to a single metric.The construct that is developed in this paper cannot claim to have overcome this fundamental problem; nor does it settle the equally basic difficulties relating to what specific indicators to include in the composite construct, and how to weigh their individual values. However, it illustrates one possible approach toward the development of a summary index value that provides some insight into both direction (“favorable” or “unfavorable”) and magnitude of observed year-to-year changes in a selected number of fairly representative socioeconomic indicators for which measures were available for the United States annually from 1969 to the present. The information provided by this index lacks explanatory power, but examination of the components of the observed changes in the index does yield some useful insight into the relative contribution of changes in different “areas of concern” to the overall changes observed in the “QOL” in the United States during the 1969–1985 period.     

Yea-saying and mood-of-the-day effects in self-reported quality of life

This paper focuses on some of the complications that may arise from errors of measurement in quality of life (QOL) scales based on self-report. It is argued that systematic errors as well as random errors (specifically in the shape of mood-of-the-day effects) will tend to suppress, mask or “wash out” statistical associations between “objective”, sociologically relevant, indicators of well-being and self-reported quality of life. Results from a Norwegian sample of middle-aged and old participants in a health screening operation (N=610) are reported. The findings indicate that response acquiescence (“yea-saying”) may be a source of systematic error even in balanced QOL-scales, and that this bias may lead one to underestimate QOL among the well-educated and overestimate it among older respondents. Utilizing over-time data we are able to show that self-reported QOL appears particularly vulnerable to mood-of-the-day effects among younger females. Implications for sociological research on subjective well-being are pointed out.     

The systemic life quality model: A basis for urban renewal evaluation

This paper develops, on the basis of explicit assumptions and axioms, a conceptual framework for observing the effectiveness of functioning of action systems, and, in particular of the human individual. The framework is used to construct a facet definition of human quality of life (QOL) which is claimed to be exclusive and exhaustive: The contents of the observational items it produces do not overlap and cover the entire QOL universe. A specification of two facets: the subsystem facet (personality, physical, social, cultural-value) and the functioning mode facet (expressive, adaptive, integrative, conservative) results in 16 content areas, each of which can be represented or covered by an observational item. The systemic QOL measuring represented or covered by an observational item. The systemic QOL measuring instrument is examined with respect to its reliability and validity. Structural hypotheses whose rationale is grounded in the elementary considerations that led to the systemic model of QOL are formulated, tested and are largely confirmed. Finally, the systemic QOL model is applied to the evaluation of life quality and environmental conditions in a neighborhood designated as “distress neighborhood” within national urban renewal project.     

Basic Minimum Needs,Quality of Life and Selected Correlates: Explorations in Villages in Northern India

For those involved in international development, one of the major goals is an improvement in the quality of life of the poor. Bhargava and Chakrabati (1992: 133) see the “primary objective of development at any given time is to improve the quality of life”. Indeed, the mission statement for an international development organization explicitly commits itself to the improvement of the quality of life for the “poorest of the poor” (DID, 1994). Social indicators, as “transeconomic” measures of quality of life, have “become an integral part of 'development indicators”' (Kao and Liu, 1984: 400; see, also Kahn, 1991). The connection between quality of life and development extends beyond the Third World. For example, in the U.S. Myers (1987) found quality of life influenced inmigration to Austin, Texas, thus affecting its economic development. Undoubtedly the majority of the connections between social indicators and development has been examined at the macro, or national levels using economic, health, education and other objective, comparative indices. Recognizing that such measures as GNP are oftentimes inadequate, assorted indices have been derived to gauge the changes in social development over time, e.g., the well-known Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) constructed by the Overseas Development Council (Morris, 1976). Many of these tend to focus on objective, material indicators (commodity possessions) as opposed to the more subjective ones (Anand and Ravallion, 1993). It is not the purpose of this paper to examine the various critics' arguments about the strengths and weaknesses of extant macro versus micro indices, but rather to lend support for the general need to assess development and social change through social indicators, whether macro or micro, objective or subjective. Ultimately, the purpose of the assessment should guide which social indicators are selected. The purpose of this paper is to examine several issues arising from the linkages between development efforts and quality of life (QOL). Using empirical data which were gathered to evaluate a community development project in the Garhwal region of Northern India, several issues, germane to both social indicators and development, will be investigated. These include: (1) the relationship between “Basic Minimum Needs” (BMNs) and QOL, (2) some methodological innovations for measuring both BMNs and QOL, and (3) selected correlates of BMNs and social indicators of QOL for Garhwali villagers. Before describing the project and its findings, we will first place it in the overall development context.     

Quality of Life in Cities: Setting up Criteria for Amman-Jordan

In recent years, the interest grew in research on measuring the “quality of life” (QOL) in cities. This interest comes from the success QOL measurement achieved in understanding communities’ needs, tracking changes in different aspects of life and assessing the most desired types of future development among citizens. This research highlights the importance of measuring QOL in Jordan. It examines the opportunity and applicability of carrying out QOL measurement studies in Amman, the capital city. It outlines different scopes, visions and approaches that can be used to study and measure QOL and the most suitable mechanism that can work firmly. A professional top–bottom approach was used for that. Thirty-three experts with different backgrounds were interviewed in order to determine the appropriate scopes and visions for studying QOL, define the most significant aspects affecting QOL in Amman, and define the appropriate domains to be studied. Results were analyzed, limitations were defined and the final set of representative domains was stated. Domains were ranked according to their relevance and the important -underneath- aspects were defined in the form of models, each representing a certain domain. The paper attempts by the end to set the stage for setting up criteria for measuring QOL in Amman and to open the way for future QOL research to take place in Jordan.     

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: Blooming or bloomin’ awful? A review of the literature

BackgroundNausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) is a normal, commonly experienced affliction of early pregnancy. Despite this, its impact on women's lives is not necessarily minimal. For some women, the implications of NVP are substantial with multi-faceted effects, hindering their ability to maintain usual life activities, and particularly their ability to work. In an effort to understand the effect of NVP, several researchers have developed NVP measurement tools, which enable an understanding of NVP's effect on quality of life (QOL).ProblemThis paper seeks to provide a review of the literature to explore the impact of NVP on women's quality of life, particularly their ability to maintain social and professional commitments.MethodMedline, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Ebsco, Science Direct, Health Source, Academic Search Premiere, Cochrane databases were extensively searched using Boolean operators with various combinations of relevant terms: nausea, vomiting, pregnancy, emesis, quality of life, QOL, NVPQOL, PUQE, SF-12, SF-36 and limited to those published from 1999 onwards. Papers were scrutinised to include those discussing the impact of normal NVP on women's lives, particularly their QOL with careful exclusion of those addressing hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).FindingsNVP has a significant effect on women's QOL and therefore their ability to maintain day-to-day activities as well as work capacity. This has implications for the woman, her partner, her family and her employers.ConclusionIt is important that all maternity care workers consider the impact of NVP on the woman's QOL and that care is given not to minimise this experience. Further research is warranted which considers ways in which women can best manage this experience in relation to social and professional commitments. Given the authors were able to identify only one Australian study in this area, published in 2000 and utilising non-NVP specific QOL measurement tools, there exists scope for additional local studies using NVP-specific QOL tools to determine the impact of QOL for Australian women and therefore Australian society.     

Quality of Life Measurement in the Field of Intellectual Disabilities: Eight Principles for Assessing Quality of Life-Related Personal Outcomes

As the concept of quality of life (QOL) has evolved from a theoretical concept to both a measurable construct and an action-oriented change agent in the field of intellectual disabilities, there has emerged a corresponding need to develop, implement, and use a systematic approach to the assessment of domain-referenced quality of life outcomes. The purpose of this article is to suggest eight principles based on published literature and the authors’ experiences that should underlie the assessment of QOL-related personal outcomes in the field of intellectual disabilities. Data from the development of the personal outcomes scale are used to exemplify each principle. The article’s premise is that model development and test construction should work in tandem, and that a ‘quality of life assessment instrument’ should be based on an empirically derived QOL conceptual and measurement framework/model.     

Further Validation of the Sirgy et al.'s Measure of Community Quality of Life

Sirgy et al. (2000) have developed a measure ofcommunity quality of life (QOL). This measurecaptures residents' satisfaction withcommunity-based services in the way that theseservices contribute to global satisfaction withthe community and overall life satisfaction. The measure was validated nomologically bytesting hypotheses directly deduced from atheoretical model that relates residents'satisfaction with community-based services withglobal community satisfaction and global lifesatisfaction. The study reported in this paperreplicates and extends Sirgy et al.'s (2000)study. Specifically, the conceptual model thatwas used to test the nomological (predictive)validity of the community QOL measure wasfurther expanded and refined. The modifiedmeasure is based on the theoretical notion thatsatisfaction with the community at large(global community satisfaction) is mostlydetermined by satisfaction with governmentservices (police, fire/rescue, library, etc.),business services (banking/savings, insurance,department stores, etc.), nonprofit services(alcohol/drug abuse services, crisisintervention, religious services, etc.), aswell as satisfaction with other aspects of thecommunity such as quality of the environment,rate of change to the natural landscape, racerelations, cost of living, crime, ties withpeople, neighborhood, and housing. In turn,global community satisfaction together withsatisfaction with other overall life domains(work, family, leisure, etc.) affect globallife satisfaction. Survey data from a varietyof communities located in southwest Virginiawere collected to further test the nomologicalvalidity of the measure. The results providedadditional nomological validation support tothe community QOL measure.     

Stability and Change of Regional Quality of life in Switzerland, 1978–1996

Data from surveys on local quality of life (QOL) in Switzerland amongthree age cohorts of a combined 87 000 recruits doing their basicmilitary training in 1978, 1987 and 1996 are used in this study in orderto answer the following questions: How stable was the QOLprofile of the whole country since 1978, and how much QOLprofiles changed since then at the four disaggregationlevels of the 26 cantons, 106 regions, 169 urban communities and 91neighborhoods or suburbs of the 7 largest urban agglomerations ofSwitzerland? At the first three disaggregation levels, most of theone-item measures used seem to be rather valid, i.e., they tended infact to generate stable as well as plausible results in unchangingsituations, or to react sensitively to “objectively” changingconditions of life. Where in public discourse QOL attributes arediffuse, i.e. where they are only loosely coupled to acertain village, town, region etc., or where the QOL profiles of smallerterritories are only based on answers of a few respondents, the strongerimpact that unknown measurement errors have under these conditions makesinterpreting the results of some single variables moredifficult. Especially at the level of cantons and regions, however, QOLprofiles defined by spatially well-focused sets of subjectiveindicators are easily interpretable and very stable. Through all threesurveys, they depict and preserve the distinctive characteristics of acanton or region remarkably well. In general, interpreting these surveyresults from the perspective of discursive social psychology proves tobe advantageous.

     

A Poisson-Based Framework for Setting Poverty Thresholds Using Indicator Lists

Poverty is one of the most important concepts in the social sciences, yet commonly-used thresholds for the operationalization of poverty have little or no conceptual basis. This is especially true of the “relative deprivation” poverty concept, where the arbitrary threshold of missing k ≥ 3 items from a list of socially defined necessities is the accepted operationalization. This paper presents a conceptual framework for meaningfully setting k based on the properties of the Poisson distribution. Data from the 2011 Swiss Household Panel are used to illustrate this approach for three poverty concepts: conventional relative deprivation based on non-affordability of items (“afford-deprivation”), simplified relative deprivation based on non-possession of items (“possess-deprivation”), and a novel approach based on the status syndrome concept (“high life burden”). Proof-of-concept analyses suggest thresholds of k ≥ 2 for conventional afford-deprivation, k ≥ 5 for possess-deprivation, and k ≥ 6 for high life burden. In addition to providing a rationale for k, the Poisson-based approach allows for the systematic variation of k in different empirical contexts. It also supports the estimation of “adjusted” poverty rates that account for the chance probability that non-poverty households are accidentally miscategorized as being in poverty.     

MEASURING QUALITY OF LIFE: ECONOMIC,SOCIAL, AND SUBJECTIVE INDICATORS

Thinkers have discussed the “good life” and the desirable society for millennia. In the last decades, scientists offered several alternative approaches to defining and measuring quality of life: social indicators such as health and levels of crime, subjective well-being measures (assessing people's evaluative reactions to their lives and societies), and economic indices. These alternative indicators assess three philosophical approaches to well-being that are based, respectively, on normative ideals, subjective experiences, and the ability to select goods and services that one desires. The strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches are reviewed. It is argued that social indicators and subjective well-being measures are necessary to evaluate a society, and add substantially to the regnant economic indicators that are now favored by policy makers. Each approach to measuring the quality of life contains information that is not contained in the other measures.     

The Council of Economic Advisers on the Changing American Family

The 2000 Annual Report of the US Council of Economic Advisers (a document exceeding 300 pages, formally an Annex to the Economic Report of the President Transmitted to the Congress February 2000, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office) devotes considerable space to a discussion of the demographic and economic changes affecting families in the United States. Excerpts reproduced below from the first part of Chapter 5, titled “The Changing American Family,” examine the relevant trends in a broad historical perspective, drawing on data in some cases spanning the entire twentieth century. The second part of this chapter discusses the “money crunch”: financial constraints “that still burden many families despite the remarkable growth in the American standard of living,” and the “time crunch”: shortage of time devoted to family needs “that results from the increased participation of parents, especially mothers, in the paid labor market.” Policies designed to address these problems are also discussed in the second part of the chapter.     

Body Image and Quality of Life in a Group of African American Women

African American (AA) women’s preference for a larger body size and underestimation of their body weight may affect the relationship between their body weight and weight-related quality of life (QOL). We wanted to examine the relationship between weight-related QOL and body mass index (BMI) in a sample of overweight AA women. Thirty-three overweight AA women completed a clinic visit to measure height, weight, and complete surveys including the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life-Lite (IWQOL-Lite) and the Stunkard Figure Rating Scale. BMI was calculated using measured height and weight. Correlations and linear regression models were estimated using SAS v 9.1. In this sample, the mean total quality of life score was 78.00 ± 17.68 on a 100 point scale. There was a modest correlation between BMI and total weight-related QOL (r = −0.034, p = 0.053). Body image dissatisfaction was the strongest predictor of total quality of life score (p = 0.04). African American women’s unique cultural perception of body image may play a key role in weight-related QOL.     

Ideology and social indicators of the quality of life

This paper explores the possibility that social-psychological, evaluative measures of social well-being/quality of life (QOL) perceptions may embody unintended ideological elements. We argue that individual QOL satisfactions are likely caused, in part, by ‘satisfactions’, or conservative orientations, vis-à-vis societal institutions. Four dependent measures of QOL attitudes-overall life satisfaction, service satisfaction, community satisfaction, and powerlessness-are derived from factor analyses and established measurement procedures. Each of these QOL indicators is found to exhibit significant bivariate associations with measures of political-economic ideology. These relationships are somewhat reduced, but persist at statistically significant levels, when socio-demographic background variables are held constant. We then discuss the implications of our results for theory and method in the social indicators field.     

Psychological Mechanism of Subjective Well-Being: A Stable Trait or Situational Variability

This study explored the holistic configuration of self-control and self-esteem with Latent Profile Analysis and examined the effect of self profiles on five adolescent quality of life indicators, including deviant behavior, friendship, academic achievement, time management and life satisfaction. The sample included 488 Taiwan junior-high students selected from a panel data. Four-group solution is considered optimal across years. At time 1, the “Quality Selves” group (high SC–SE) had consistent best performance in all the adolescent quality of life indicators while the “Disadvantageous Selves" group (low SC–SE) displayed consistent the worst. Given the same level of SC in “Baseline” group and “Self-Esteem” group, higher SE in the “Self-esteem” was related to higher evaluation of life satisfaction while no difference was found in other 4 quality of life indicators. At time 2, “Self-Esteem” became the “SC-Improved” who had the same best quality of life as the “Quality Selves,” while the “Baseline” was renamed as the “Lower Baseline” who performed similarly as the worst adjusted “Disadvantageous Selves” in indicators, except fewer deviant behaviors. Group membership was generally stable and self-profile transitions were more likely upward than downward. Along the adolescent period, findings suggest the level of SC need to be strengthened in order to sustain a good quality of life. Meanwhile, higher SE seems to be a propelling factor for students to gain better SC at a later time. Educational programs solely aim at cherishing self could move beyond for a double-core direction that also enhances adolescent social adaption with self-discipline training.     

The Evaluation of a Self-enumerated Scale of Quality of Life (CASP-19) in the Context of Research on Ageing: A Combination of Exploratory and Confirmatory Approaches

This paper describes the conceptual development of a self-enumerated scale of quality of life (CASP-19) and presents an empirical evaluation of its structure using a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approaches across three different survey settings for older people living in England and Wales in the new millennium. All evaluations are conducted using MPlus which allows the analyst to evaluate the properties of the scale for a set of multivariate categorical items which are subject to item non-response. CASP-19 is a subjective measure of well-being derived from an explicit theory of human need spanning four life domains: control, autonomy, self-realisation and pleasure. Put formally, CASP-19 is a self-reported summative index consisting of 19 Likert scale items. The three survey settings include a postal survey of 263 people in early old age followed up from childhood when the respondents were first interviewed in the 1930's, the first wave (2002) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA_1) and the eleventh wave of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS_11) also conducted in 2002. These nationally representative surveys consisted of 9300 and 6471 respondents aged 55 years and older. The Boyd-Orr sample provides an exploratory context for the evaluation and ELSA_1 together with BHPS_11 provide the opportunity for confirmatory analyses of three measurement models. There is some support for the use of CASP-19 as a stand alone summative index. However, the analysis reveals that a shortened 12-item scale which combines the life domains 'control and autonomy' in a second order measurement model is the recommended model for analysts. The work was funded under the UK's Economic and Social Research Council's Growing Older Programme and their Priority Network on Human Capability and Resilience. Grant Nos. L480254016 & L326253061.

Unpacking Self-Rated Health and Quality of Life in Older Adults and Elderly in India: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

The Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) aims at improving empirical understanding of the health and well-being of older adults in low- and middle-income countries. A total of 321 adults aged 50 years and older were interviewed in rural Pune district, India, in 2007. We used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to examine the pathways through which social factors, functional disability, risk behaviours, and chronic disease experience influence self-rated health (SRH) and quality of life (QOL) amongst older adults in India. Both SRH and QOL worsened with increased age (indirect effect) and limitations in functional ability (direct effect). QOL, socio-economic status (SES), and social networking had no significant effect on SRH. Smoking was associated with the presence of at least one chronic illness, but this did not have a statistically significant effect on SRH. Higher social networking was seen amongst the better educated and those with regular income, which in turn positively affected the QOL rating. QOL had a direct, but statistically not significant, effect on SRH. In conclusion, the indirect effects of age on SRH mediated through functional ability, and the effects of SES on QOL mediated through social networking, provide new understanding of how age and socio-economic status affect SRH and QOL. By allowing for measurement errors, solving for collinearity in predictor variables by integrating them into measurement models, and specifying causal dependencies between the underlying latent constructs, SEM provides a strong link between theory and empirics.     

The Housing Domain of Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction in the Spontaneous Settlements on the Tehran Metropolitan Fringe

The aim of this article is to survey the spontaneous settlements on the Tehran Metropolitan Fringe (TMF), to determine the different housing sub-domains of quality of life (QOL), to survey overall life satisfaction and to determine the extent to which overall life satisfaction is explained by the components of the housing domain of QOL in these spontaneous settlements. Three spontaneous settlements on the TMF were selected by stratified random sampling method. Household interviews were conducted to gather the needed data. Nineteen indicators were selected to reflect the housing sub-domains of QOL. A factor analysis identified seven housing sub-domains of QOL: housing consolidation, housing amenities, housing space, housing quality, housing basic services, housing durability and security of tenure. In all three settlements surveyed, an inverse relationship was found between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Very few residents expressed a neutral view about life satisfaction in the settlements surveyed. In all three settlements surveyed, respondents felt they were more satisfied with their life in their previous settlements. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the extent to which overall life satisfaction is explained by the seven extracted components of the housing domain of QOL. The results indicated that there is a direct relationship between the main reasons for migration to these settlements and the housing sub-domains of QOL.

Evaluating the Quality of Urban Development Plans Promoted by the European Union: The URBAN and URBANA Initiatives in Spain (1994–2013)

Since the 1990s, the European Union has launched different programs to promote urban development plans. Implementation and outcomes evaluations have resulted in a “European urban acquis” concerning the importance of comprehensiveness, collaborative governance, and participation to promote “good plans.” However, the evaluation of the quality of local plans, has received less attention. This article analyses quality of local plans developed under the framework of European Policies in Spain applying the plan quality evaluation approach, as well as factors explaining quality levels of these local plans. A scale to measure plan quality is proposed based on five main dimensions (fact base, objectives, policy actions, plan governance, evaluation). 64 local plans are analyzed applying content analysis. RgW and AD tests are used to measure codification reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used to assess the validity of plan quality scale. Lineal regression is applied to analyze the impact of different aspects of planning process included in the ‘European urban acquis’ on plan quality. Main results show that CFA validates the scale proposed to measure local plan quality as a second-order factor; and point out objectives and policy actions as the most important first-order factors. Public participation during planning process, and more comprehensive plan across different policy areas, are the main factors explaining ‘good plans’. Therefore, the importance of the ‘European urban acquis,’ is confirmed in order to produce ‘good’ urban development plans; and the article provides a validated scale to evaluate the quality of urban development plans, and their main dimensions.