Life expectancy & quality of life

Translational Science Benefits

Clinical

Community

Economic

Policy

Community & public health benefits (Health promotion)

Definition

Improvement in the average age of death or how often illness and injury impedes everyday life for a particular population. Life expectancy measures how long a person can expect to live. Quality of life can be measured in terms of living conditions, physical health, mental health, social relationships, level of independence, economic security, safety, or basic human rights.

Rationale

Enhancement of well-being among community members is a key goal of clinical and translational research. Increases in life expectancy and quality of life are frequently used to assess community health.

Guidance

Advice from authors on searching for information:

Without specific analyses, it is challenging to attribute changes in quality of life or life expectancy of a population to the dissemination and implementation of a specific clinical and translational research project. Researchers may want to consult with domain-specific experts.

Resources & Data

Organizations, repositories, websites, and other sources where you can find more information:

Local

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. This MDHSS site provides information on health assessment and intervention planning. Data on life expectancy for Missouri’s 115 counties as well as other data sets are also available for surveillance purposes.

General

CDC- National Center for Health Statistics. This CDC site provides life expectancy data and other data sets for the United States.
CDC’s Health-Related Quality of Life. This CDC site provides information about the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaire and links to data.
RAND Health Surveys. RAND Health provides several quality of life surveys available without charge.
WHOQOL-BREF. The WHOQOL-BREF is a quality of life scale developed through the World Health Organization.

Data Limitations

Challenges you may encounter while searching for information:

Access to self-reported researcher or administrative/in-house data may be required to locate documentation. The relevance of case studies and indicators may be affected by whether the work is global, national, state, or local.