Quality of Life

Quality of life studies form an essential part of the evaluation of any treatment. Written by two authors who are well respected within this field, Quality of Life: The Assessment, Analysis and Interpretation of Patient-reported Outcomes, Second Edition lays down guidelines on assessing, analysing and interpreting quality of life data. The new edition of this standard book has been completely revised, updated and expanded to reflect many methodological developments emerged since the publication of the first edition. Covers the design of instruments, the practical aspects of implementing assessment, the analyses of the data, and the interpretation of the results Presents all essential information on Quality of Life Research in one comprehensive volume Explains the use of qualitative and quantitative methods, including the application of basic statistical methods Includes copious practical examples Fills a need in a rapidly growing area of interest New edition accommodates significant methodological developments, and includes chapters on computer adaptive testing and item banking, choosing an instrument, systematic reviews and meta analysis This book is of interest for everyone involved in quality of life research, and it is applicable to medical and non-medical, statistical and non-statistical readers. It is of particular relevance for clinical and biomedical researchers within both the pharmaceutical industry and practitioners in the fields of cancer and other chronic diseases. Reviews of the First Edition – Winner of the first prize in the Basis of Medicine Category of the BMA Medical Book Competition 2001: “This book is highly recommended to clinicians who are actively involved in the planning, analysis and publication of QoL research.” CLINICAL ONCOLOGY “This book is highly recommended reading.” QUALITY OF LIFE RESEARCH

Note: Book no longer includes a CD-ROM, but the files are available online for download for both book and ebook purchasers at www.wiley.com/go/frisch «This book defines an approach to well-being and positive psychology, that is state-of-the-art, evidence-based, empirically validated, and an outstanding guide for anyone interested in learning about the practice of positive psychology or well-being.» —Ed Diener, the world authority on happiness from the University of Illinois and President of the International Positive Psychology Association. Endorsed by Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan and taught in Marty Seligman's Masters in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Program at the University of Pennsylvania, this book teaches a simple, step-by-step method for putting the fields of well-being and positive psychology into practice. It is a «one-stop shopping» manual with everything you need in one book and with one approach. This approach to greater happiness, meaning, and success is “evidence-based” and empirically validated. It has been successfully tested in three randomized controlled trials, including two NIH-grant funded trials conducted by James R. Rodrigue and his colleagues at Beth Israel and Harvard Medical Centers in Boston. Quality of Life Therapy also known as Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching or QOLTC is designed for use by therapists, coaches, organizational change-agents/consultants, and all professionals who work to improve peoples' well-being. Many laypersons and clients have found the book useful as well. This book explains the «Sweet 16» Recipe for Joy and Success, along with validated interventions for each: 1. Basic Needs or Wealths: Health, Money, Goals-and-Values/Spiritual Life, Self-Esteem 2. Relationships: Love, Friends, Relatives, and Children 3. Occupations-Avocations: Work and Retirement Pursuits, Play, Helping-Service, Learning, Creativity 4. Surroundings: Home, Neighborhood, Community

Finally a comprehensive overview of speech quality in VoIP from the user’s perspective! Speech Quality of VoIP is an essential guide to assessing the speech quality of VoIP networks, whilst addressing the implications for the design of VoIP networks and systems. This book bridges the gap between the technical network-world and the psychoacoustic world of quality perception. Alexander Raake’s unique perspective combines awareness of the technical characteristics of VoIP networks and original research concerning the perception of speech transmitted across them. Starting from the network designer’s point of view, the different characteristics of the network are addressed, and then linked to features perceived by users. This book provides an overview of the available knowledge on the principal, relevant aspects of speech and speech quality perception, of speech quality assessment, and of transmission properties of telephone and VoIP networks, and of the related perceptual features and resulting speech quality. Discussing new research into the specific time-varying degradations VoIP brings along, but also the considerable potential of quality improvement to be achieved with wideband speech transmission, Alexander Raake demonstrates how network and service characteristics impact on the users perception of quality. Speech Quality of VoIP: Offers an insight into speech quality of VoIP from a user's perspective. Presents an overview of different modelling approaches and a parametric network-planning model for quality prediction in VoIP networks. Draws on innovative new research on the quality degradation characteristic of VoIP. Explains in detail how telephone speech quality can be greatly enhanced with VoIP’s wideband speech transmission capability. Assesses the vast collection of references into the technical and scientific literature related to VoIP quality. Illustrates concepts throughout with mathematical models, algorithms and simulations. Speech Quality of VoIP is the definitive guide for researchers, engineers and network planners working in the field of VoIP, Quality of Service, and speech communication processing in telecommunications. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students on telecommunication and networking courses will also find this text an invaluable resource.

An essential, up-to-date guide to the design of studies and selection of the correct QoL instruments for observational studies and clinical trials. Quality of Life (QoL) outcomes or Person/Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are now frequently being used in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies. This book provides a practical guide to the design, analysis and interpretation of studies that use such outcomes. QoL outcomes tend to generate data with discrete, bounded and skewed distributions. Many investigators are concerned about the appropriateness of using standard statistical methods to analyse QoL data and want guidance on what methods to use. QoL outcomes are frequently used in cross-sectional surveys and non-randomised health-care evaluations. Provides a user-friendly guide to the design and analysis of clinical trials and observational studies in relation to QoL outcomes. Discusses the problems caused by QoL outcomes and presents intervention options to help tackle them. Guides the reader step-by-step through the selection of appropriate QoLs. Features exercises and solutions and a supporting website providing downloadable data files. Illustrated throughout with examples and case studies drawn from the author’s experience, this book offers statisticians and clinicians guidance on choosing between the numerous available QoL instruments.

This book explains the concept of spatial data quality, a key theory for minimizing the risks of data misuse in a specific decision-making context. Drawing together chapters written by authors who are specialists in their particular field, it provides both the data producer and the data user perspectives on how to evaluate the quality of vector or raster data which are both produced and used. It also covers the key concepts in this field, such as: how to describe the quality of vector or raster data; how to enhance this quality; how to evaluate and document it, using methods such as metadata; how to communicate it to users; and how to relate it with the decision-making process. Also included is a Foreword written by Professor Michael F. Goodchild.

Based on a convergence of network technologies, the Next Generation Network (NGN) is being deployed to carry high quality video and voice data. In fact, the convergence of network technologies has been driven by the converging needs of end-users. The perceived end-to-end quality is one of the main goals required by users that must be guaranteed by the network operators and the Internet Service Providers, through manufacturer equipment. This is referred to as the notion of Quality of Experience (QoE) and is becoming commonly used to represent user perception. The QoE is not a technical metric, but rather a concept consisting of all elements of a user's perception of the network services. The authors of this book focus on the idea of how to integrate the QoE into a control-command chain in order to construct an adaptive network system. More precisely, in the context of Content-Oriented Networks used to redesign the current Internet architecture to accommodate content-oriented applications and services, they aim to describe an end-to-end QoE model applied to a Content Distribution Network architecture. About the Authors Abdelhamid Mellouk is Full Professor at University of Paris-Est C-VdM (UPEC), Networks & Telecommunications (N&T) Department and LiSSi Laboratory, France. Head of several executive national and international positions, he was the founder of the Network Control Research activity at UPEC with extensive international academic and industrial collaborations. His general area of research is in adaptive real-time control for high-speed new generation dynamic wired/wireless networks in order to maintain acceptable Quality of Service/Experience for added-value services. He is an active member of the IEEE Communications Society and has held several offices including leadership positions in IEEE Communications Society Technical Committees. Said Hoceini is Associate Professor at University of Paris-Est C-VdM (UPEC), Networks & Telecommunications (N&T) Department and LiSSi Laboratory, France. His research focuses on routing algorithms, quality of service, quality of experience, and wireless sensor networks, as well as bio-inspired artificial intelligence approaches. His work has been published in several international conferences and journals and he serves on several TPCs. Hai Anh Tran is Associate Professor at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), Vietnam. His research focuses on QoE aspects, QoS adaptive control/command mechanisms, wired routing, as well as bio-inspired artificial intelligence approaches.

This book discusses the current status of QoE research; reporting latest advances from various standardisation bodies (ITU, ETSI, IEEE, IETF) Multimedia Quality of Experience (QoE): Current Status and Future Requirements discusses the current status of QoE (Quality of Experience) research, providing guidelines on QoE assessment and management practice. Moreover, the book covers many different aspects of QoE research, including definition, standardization (ITU, ETSI, IEEE, IETF, etc.), measurement, management, and architectures. In addition, the authors bring together contributions from recognized experts (worldwide) in the area of subjective and objective QoE video assessment. Topics/chapters include: (1) QoE Definition and its relation/mapping to QoS; QoE Standardization activities; QoE Metrics for various media applications; QoE Subjective and Objective Evaluation Methodologies; QoE Control, Monitoring and Management strategies; End-to-End QoE Architectures in heterogeneous environments. Discusses the current status of QoE research; reporting latest advances from various standardisation bodies (e.g. ITU, ETSI, IEEE, IETF) Provides guidelines on QoE assessment and management practice Explores methods, means and architectures of QoE Addresses multiple technologies and requires input from multiple disciplines such as engineering, sociology and psychology Brings together contributions from recognized experts (worldwide) in the area of subjective and objective QoE video assessment Considers future requirements of QoE

The promotion of standards and guidelines to advance quality assurance and control is an integral part of the health care sector. Quantitative methods are needed to monitor, control and improve the quality of medical processes. Statistical Development of Quality in Medicine presents the statistical concepts behind the application of industrial quality control methods. Filled with numerous case studies and worked examples, the text enables the reader to choose the relevant control chart, to critically apply it, improve it if necessary, and monitor its stability. Furthermore, the reader is provided with the necessary background to critically assess the literature on the application of control charts and risk adjustment and to apply the findings. Contains a user-friendly introduction, setting out the necessary statistical concepts used in the field. Uses numerous real-life case studies from the literature and the authors’ own research as the backbone of the text. Provides a supplementary website featuring problems and answers drawn from the book, alongside examples in Statgraphics. The accessible style of Statistical Development of in Clinical Medicine invites a large readership. It is primarily aimed at health care officials, and personnel responsible for developing and controlling the quality of health care services. However, it is also ideal for statisticians working with health care problems, diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies, and graduate students of quality control.

A statistical approach to the principles of quality control and management Incorporating modern ideas, methods, and philosophies of quality management, Fundamentals of Quality Control and Improvement, Fourth Edition presents a quantitative approach to management-oriented techniques and enforces the integration of statistical concepts into quality assurance methods. Utilizing a sound theoretical foundation and illustrating procedural techniques through real-world examples, the timely new edition bridges the gap between statistical quality control and quality management. Promoting a unique approach, the book focuses on the use of experimental design concepts as well as the Taguchi method for creating product/process designs that successfully incorporate customer needs, improve lead time, and reduce costs. The Fourth Edition of Fundamentals of Quality Control and Improvement also includes: New topical coverage on risk-adjustment, capability indices, model building using regression, and survival analysis Updated examples and exercises that enhance the readers’ understanding of the concepts Discussions on the integration of statistical concepts to decision making in the realm of quality assurance Additional concepts, tools, techniques, and issues in the field of health care and health care quality A unique display and analysis of customer satisfaction data through surveys with strategic implications on decision making, based on the degree of satisfaction and the degree of importance of survey items Fundamentals of Quality Control and Improvement, Fourth Edition is an ideal book for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in management, technology, and engineering. The book also serves as a valuable reference for practitioners and professionals interested in expanding their knowledge of statistical quality control, quality assurance, product/process design, total quality management, and/or Six Sigma training in quality improvement.

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