Ph.d. forsvar: Kristine Henderson Bissenbakker
Adequacy of Quality of Life measurement in patients with multimorbidity- Development and validation of the MultiMorbidity Questionnaire
Summary
Multimorbidity - defined as the occurrence of two or more chronic diseases in one individual - is an increasing problem worldwide. For society multimorbidity results in expanded use of the healthcare system, leading to rising healthcare costs. The patients living with multimorbidity experience that their Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) decreases with the number of their chronic diseases. Multimorbidity is often associated with social inequalities and many patients struggling to handle the complexities of symptoms, diagnoses, and information are burdened in their everyday lives. Therefore a growing number of intervention studies are directed at these problems. The majority of these studies measure the effect of an intervention by examining the possible change in quality of life (QoL).
QoL is often measured using a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) - a self-reported questionnaire. To ensure that the contents of such a questionnaire are relevant and comprehensive, it must be developed together with the target group for which it is intended. Furthermore, it must be statistically assessed whether the questionnaire and the aspects it measures have adequate measurement properties. In his thesis the overall aim was to develop an adequate measure of quality of life specifically intended for patients with multimorbidity.
Assessment Committee:
Associate professor Charlotte Juul Nilsson (Chairperson)
Associate professor May-Lill Johansen
Dr Anita Slade
Supervisors:
Associate Professor Anne Møller
Assistant Professor Alexandra Brandt Ryborg Jønsson
Professor Susanne Dalsgaard Reventlow
Department:
Department of Public Health
Graduate Programme:
Public Health and Epidemiology
Place:
Center for Sundhed og Samfund (CSS)
Room 1.1.18
Øster Farimagsgade 5
1353 Copenhagen K
Ask for a copy of the thesis: bissenbakker@sund.ku.dk