Health-related quality-of-life measures--United States, 1993

Abstract

Measures of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) are used to evaluate the outcomes of interventions and the need for health services (1,2). HR-QOL includes how persons perceive their own health--which reliably predicts loss of function, morbidity, and mortality (3-5)--and how well they function physically, psychologically, and socially during usual daily activities. Measures of HR-QOL are important because they assess dysfunction and disability not reflected by standard measures of morbidity and mortality. Since January 1993, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) has included four HR-QOL questions regarding overall self-rated health and recent physical health, mental health, and activity limitation (6). This report describes 1993 BRFSS results for state-specific differences in these measures of HR-QOL.