Is quality of life determined by expectations or experience?

摘要

Health related quality of life is the gap between our expectations of health and our experience of it. Perception of quality of life varies between individuals and is dynamic within them. People with different expectations will report that they have a different quality of life even when they have the same clinical condition. People whose health has changed may report the same level of quality of life when measures are repeated. Current measures do not take account of expectations and cannot distinguish between changes in the experience of disease and changes in expectations of health.