Aspects of quality of life in gastrointestinal disease: some methodological issues.

Quality of Life assessments have many applications in clinical trials. In the evaluation of gastrointestinal disease for example. Quality of Life outcomes provide a useful tool for assessing treatment response. There are a number of standard measures currently available that may be utilized to determine Quality of Life. In clinical trials the use of questionnaires allows the clinician to assess the impact of disease and its subsequent treatment upon the patient's daily life. In order to facilitate comparison of data between studies, it is important that the measures selected are well validated. Patients with gastrointestinal problems do not only experience symptoms. The symptoms have an adverse impact on well-being and ability to enjoy day-to-day activities. It is important to provide appropriate treatment for the large and heterogeneous population with gastrointestinal complaints who have a poor Quality of Life.