ABSTRACT
The effects of cancer are felt at many levels, ranging from the global level to the national level and, most poignantly, at the level of the individual. At the national level it is estimated that one in three Canadians will develop cancer during their lifetimes and one in four will die of it. Despite improvements in the therapy of cancer and in the control of the side effects of therapy, relatively little formal knowledge exists about the effects of the disease and of its treatment on the quality of the lives of those affected. Although attention may be given to quality-of-life issues in clinical practice, documentation of these issues is either lacking or not recorded in quantitative terms. Thus, communication between health care providers is hampered because it is dependent upon the use of qualitative terms which are subject to varying interpretation. In measuring quality of life, the measurer is asked to make a comparison.
