Quality of Life Outcomes in Neurological Disorders

Overview

Why is this study needed?

Neurologists have recently begun to distinguish vascular cognitive impairment from other forms of dementia following stroke.

How will this study help patients and rehabilitation stakeholders?

The availability of reliable, valid and responsive instruments for persons with neurological diseases would enhance the likelihood that researchers would incorporate patient-oriented instruments as primary and secondary outcomes.

What are the project objectives?

To construct a clinically relevant and useful health-related quality of life (HRQL) measurement system for major neurological diseases that affect the United States population. We further propose to add to these generic item banks separate sets of unique, targeted questions to evaluate symptoms, concerns or issues that are specifically relevant only to a subset of diseases or treatments.

How will the project objectives be achieved?

We have assembled a team of experts in scale construction and validation, advanced (modern and classical) psychometrics, biostatistics, clinical neurology, neurosurgery, linguistics and translation science, multicenter clinical research coordination and project management.

What agency funded the project?

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

What is the duration of the project?

September 30, 2004 - September 29, 2009

Project Staff

David Cella, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Center for Outcomes, Research and Education (CORE), Evanston Northwestern Healthcare
Allen Heinemann, Ph.D., Co-Investigator, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Rita K. Bode, Ph.D., Co-Investigator, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Related Project Research Web Site

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Contact Information

David Cella, Ph.D.
Professor and Director,
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare,
Center for Outcomes, Research and Education (CORE)
847-570-7370
d-cella@northwestern.edu