ABSTRACT
While the majority of the chapters in this volume refer to Quality of Life (QoL) indices from the perspective of looking at 10, 100, or perhaps 1,000 patients in a research setting, this chapter will focus on the meaning of such a concept and of these measures for the individual patient in the clinic setting. What is useful in measuring a given patient population may not be useful for that individual patient. Indeed, what measures should be chosen for an individual patient are time- and situation- dependent, and the issues of concern may vary considerably even from one clinic visit to the next.
