Appraisal of quality of life by medical students: Preferences for themselves and for the elderly

Appraisal of quality of life has become a mainstream instrument among life sciences. Little is known about what medical students regard as being important to foster a good quality of life in young and old age. Participants were second year medical students recruited prior to a mandatory lecture on aging. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was performed and participants were asked for pairwise comparison of criteria regarded as being important for quality of life for younger (Y-rating) and older (O-rating) persons. Preference choices comprised all health-related domains included in the Euroqol (EQ-5D + c; mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression, cognition). In addition, three general domains unrelated to health were included (social relations, religion/personal beliefs, finances). From a total of 301 participants 269 (89.4%) datasets were completed and returned for analysis. Y-rating was sex-dependent for social relations and O-rating for self-care, depression/anxiety, cognition, and social relations. Y-rating vs. O-rating differed for self-care, usual activities, pain, depression/anxiety, cognition, and social relations. Cluster analysis with cluster variables social relations, religion/personal beliefs, and finances revealed four clusters for judgment of quality of life for both, Y-rating and O-rating, with clusters focusing on each one of the cluster variables and a fourth cluster on health-related QoL. We conclude that preferences for quality of life assessment are sex-dependent and different when subjects rate their own QoL and that of the elderly. While for some QoL appraisal is dominated by health-related quality of life, others consider social relations, religion/personal beliefs, or finances as more important.