Building a Bridge for Integrating Chinese Medicine into Conventional Healthcare: Observations Drawn from the Development of the Chinese Quality of Life Instrument (Li Zhao and Kelvin Chan)

Kelvin Chan, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
Li Zhao, Chinese University of Hong Kong

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World Scientic Publishing Company

Abstract

This paper describes the methods and theories of patient-reported outcomes, in particular to the health-related quality of life recently applied in Chinese medicine research. It begins with an investigation of the reasons for a patient-reported outcomes measure for Chinese medicine and the development of a new health-related quality of life instrument based on Chinese culture and Chinese medicine. Discussions on the importance and application of patient-reported outcomes as well as the relationship between quality of life and Chinese medicine are the focus of this paper. Through a description of the Chinese Quality of Life Instrument and its development, the present work demonstrates an evidence-based approach using patient-reported outcomes or health-related quality of life measures to evaluate treatment efficacy of Chinese medicine, and thereby build a bridge for the integration of Chinese medicine into mainstream healthcare.