Role of “health-related quality of life” measurements in the design of drug clinical trials

Objective: Health-related quality of life (HRQL) measurements enable us to take patient perception into account when evaluating treatment outcomes from clinical trials (CTs). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of HRQL questionnaires as a measurement of efficacy in CT design. Methods: A duplicate systematic review of the CTs examined by a Clinical Research Ethics Committee between 1995 and 2006 was performed to check for use of HRQL. We gathered data concerning general aspects including medical specialty, drugs evaluated, methodological quality and inclusion of economic variables. For CTs including HRQL measurements, we analysed the type of questionnaire in use. Where there were no HRQL measurements, we analysed the methodological possibilities for including them, and the relevance of their absence. Results: A total of 242 CTs were analysed; 69 (28.5%) included HRQL measurements, and 10 CTs (4.1%) used them as a primary endpoint. Only 22 CTs used more than one questionnaire. Data analysis by therapeutic area showed that HRQL was most commonly studied in the fields of rheumatology, urology, psychiatry and oncology. Only 33 CTs included economic variables. Conclusions: Measurements based on clinical parameters are the most commonly used means of measuring efficacy. Only a small percentage of CTs take the patient’s perception of his/her health into account, despite the increasing importance given to this parameter. Including HRQL questionnaires in CTs design is still far from common.