Quality of life : impact of chronic illness on the partner

Patient quality of life is an increasingly important outcome measure in medicine and healthcare. It is now widely used in clinical trials and in patient management for assessing morbidity and the impact of treatment. In the past, quality of life studies focused almost exclusively on changes in the quality of life of patients, but increasing attention is now being paid to the impact of chronic disease on carers. The ageing of the population and changes in medical practice resulting in shorter inpatient hospital stay and longer survival have substantially increased the burdens on carers, most of whom are partners. In this paper, we examine research on partner quality of life and highlight some of the methodological challenges and the clinical implications. The background to this overview is collaborative research conducted in the Department of Urology in Taunton and the Department of Psychology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Further references were obtained by searching various databases (PubMed, CancerLit, PsychInfo, EMBASE, and British Nursing Index) with the keywords 'quality of life, burden, impact, partners, caregivers and carers'.