The elderly and quality of life: current theories and measurements.

The rapid evolution of biomedical knowledge and techniques has resulted in new life expectations, nourishing hope not only of adding years to life, but also quality of life (QoL) to years. The aim of the present study was to review the national and international literature concerning QoL and the elderly, and to outline the conceptual developments of QoL that have guided the research and development of different measurement instruments used for the assessment of QoL among the elderly population. From the review it emerged that the questionnaires most used to assess QoL in the research on the elderly are: the Short Form 36 (SF36), the Short Form 12 (SF12), the EuroQol (EQ5D), Life-Quality-Gerontology Centre Scale (LGC-Scale), and Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease (QoL-AD).