ABSTRACT
Historically, in trying to assess whether or not a particular treatment is beneficial, health providers have depended on clinical end points based on anatomical, physiological and biochemical markers. Recently the limits of such measures have been acknowledged, because of their failure to address issues seen by patients themselves as important and relevant to their day to day functioning. As a result there is increasing emphasis on the need to describe the outcomes of treatment in ways that make sense to both health professionals and to patients (Schipper et al. ,1996)
