O'Young J, McPeek B
J Chronic Dis. 1987;40(6):513-22. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(87)90008-7.
Clinical trials are commonly performed in surgery to assess the efficacy of one or more treatments. Many therapies result in only partial or temporary improvement, rather than cure. Others sharply affect the quality of patients' lives or of their deaths. For most interventions, it is important to document effects on quality of life as well as morbidity and mortality rates. yet, a review of the literature reveals that very few surgical trials consider quality of life variables as outcome measures. Surgical investigators in areas like cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, end stage renal disease, and cardiac disease have examined quality of life issues extensively using a variety of scales and indices. However, most studies on quality of life are hampered by poor design and inadequate methods of assessment. Failure to evaluate quality of life variables prevents the recognition and full use of potentially beneficial therapies and the rejection of potentially harmful ones.
临床试验通常在外科手术中进行，以评估一种或多种治疗方法的疗效。许多疗法仅能带来部分或暂时的改善，而非治愈。其他疗法则会对患者的生活质量或死亡产生重大影响。对于大多数干预措施而言，记录对生活质量以及发病率和死亡率的影响非常重要。然而，文献综述显示，很少有外科手术试验将生活质量变量作为结局指标。癌症、炎症性肠病、终末期肾病和心脏病等领域的外科研究人员已经使用各种量表和指标广泛研究了生活质量问题。然而，大多数关于生活质量的研究都受到设计不佳和评估方法不足的阻碍。未能评估生活质量变量会妨碍识别和充分利用潜在有益的疗法，以及拒绝潜在有害的疗法。
