The number of, and interest in, quality of life studies has grown dramatically in the last decade. On an ever increasing basis, patients, clinicians, researchers, and health policy regulators are considering quality of life in assessing treatment alternatives. Unfortunately, most discussions of quality of life are narrow in scope -- applying to only one disease group. This unique book represents the concerted effort of experts in academia, federal government health care regulators, and pharmaceutical industry representatives to define the promise and the problems associated with quality of life studies. The issues covered range from cross cutting ones to those that are specific to particular illnesses. Because quality of life takes into consideration such domains as mood, vocation, family, sexual functioning, social participation, and costs, this book will serve as an invaluable companion to readers with an interest in behavioral medicine research.

Contents: Preface. Part I: Quality of Life From a Regulatory Perspective. R.M. Kaplan, Quality of Life, Resource Allocation, and the U.S. Health-Care Crisis. J.A. Schuttinga, Quality of Life From a Federal Regulatory Perspective. P. Erickson, R. Wilson, I. Shannon, Years of Healthy Life: Charting Improvements in the Nation's Health. R.S. Epstein, E. Lydick, Quality of Life Assessment: A Pharmaceutical Industry Perspective. R.A. Freeman, A Commentary on the Pharmaceutical Industry's Sponsorship of Health-Related Quality of Life Research. Part II: Quality of Life and Specific Illnesses. C.M. Moinpour, M. Savage, K.A. Hayden, J. Sawyers, C. Upchurch, Quality of Life Assessment in Cancer Clinical Trials. P.A. Ganz, A. Coscarelli, Quality of Life After Breast Cancer: A Decade of Research. A.P. Shapiro, M.F. Muldoon, S.R. Waldstein, J.R. Jennings, S.B. Manuck, Blood Pressure and Behavioral Effects of Antihypertensive Medications: A Preliminary Report. M.F. Elias, P.K. Elias, J. Cobb, R. D'Agostino, L.R. White, P.A. Wolf, Blood Pressure Affects Cognitive Functioning: The Framingham Studies Revisited. R.C. Rosen, J.B. Kostis, Antihypertensive Therapy and Quality of Life: Effects of Drug and Nondrug Interventions on Sleep, Mood State, and Sexual Functioning. E.T. Thyrum, J.A. Blumenthal, The Effects of Hypertension on Neurobehavioral Functioning. D. Shapiro, K.K. Hui, M.E. Oakley, J. Pasic, L.D. Jamner, Effectiveness of a Combined Behavioral-Drug Intervention for Hypertension: Drug, Personality, and Quality of Life Effects. P.D. Cleary, I.B. Wilson, F.J. Fowler, Jr., Health Related Quality of Life in HIV-Infected Persons: A Conceptual Model. S. Lutgendorf, M.H. Antoni, N. Schneiderman, G. Ironson, M.A. Fletcher, Psychosocial Interventions and Quality of Life Changes Across the HIV Spectrum. A.M. Jacobson, M. de Groot, J. Samson, Quality of Life Research in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.