focus on quality of life in the context of illness and treat-
ment. Because this chapter focuses on quality of life as an
outcome of cancer care, it addresses health-related quality of
life. The term “health-related quality of life” is used to draw
a line between the facets of life that are primarily health
related and those that are not. Non-health-related quality of
life typically is thought of as cultural, political, or societal
types of issues that fall within the purview of fields such as
economics, demography, and sociology.
However, because
cancer has a pervasive infiuence on a person’s life, all domains
of quality of life become “health related” in this context. It is
interesting to note that the World Health Organization has
chosen to define quality of life in a comprehensive manner:
An individual’s perception of their position in life in the
context of the culture and value systems in which they
live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards,
and concerns. It is a broad- ranging concept affected in a
complex way by the person’s physical health, psychological
state, level of independence, social relationships, and their
relationship to salient features of their environment.