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Quality of Life

Definitions

Definition of quality of life has a different emphasis in different professional or academic disciplines according to the corresponding interests. Hence, there has been no unique definition applicable in all applications.

For health-related quality of life, the World health Organization (WHO) defines Quality of Life as individuals' 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 (World Health Organization, 1997). In contrast, the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. defines health-related quality of life as a multidomain concept that represents the patient’s general perception of the effect of illness and treatment on physical, psychological, and social aspects of life (US Food and Health Administration, 2009).

In Chinese Medicine, health-related quality of life was built on the concept of health in Chinese Medicine based on the theory of Yin-yang. It emphasizes on the harmonization of the "Physical Form" and "Spirit", harmonization of "Man" and "Society", and harmonization of "Man" and "Nature (or environment)" (Leung et al., 2005).

Quality of Life in Chinese

Chinese is defined more by culture rather than geographical boundaries. Sequelly, Chinese societies are those that live in the Chinese culture. In line with international trends, quality of life has become an integral part in the Chinese societies, particularly in the past three decades.

Since the 1980s, there has been an increasing interest in the study of quality of life in the Chinese population. This is due to at least two reasons:

• Huge Population In 2014, there were around 1.4 billion Chinese worldwide, constituting almost 20% of the world population.
• Historically Long and Distinct Culture Chinese culture is one of the oldest in the world, with over 5,000 years of history. Its social values have been deeply influenced by Confucianism and Taoism. A famous Confucius quote:
  To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right"
  has made tremendous societal and political impact in Chinese societies. Nowadays, Chinese societies are still family-centered with the man as the head, responsible for earning the daily living of the family.

References

Leung KF, Liu FB, Zhao L, Fang JQ, Chan K,, Lin LZ. Development of validation of the Chinese Quality of Life Instrument. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 3:26, 2005.

US Food and Drug Administration. Guidance for Industry Patient-Reported Outcome Measures: Use in Medical Product Development to Support Labeling Claims. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. 2009.

World Health Organization. WHOQOL: Measuring Quality of Life. World Health Organization. Geneva: Switzerland, 1997.