Health and Quality of Life Outcomes BioMed Central Review Open Access The Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire: Dimensions and Practical Applications Bonnie Bruce* and James F Fries Address: School of Medicine, Division of Immunology & Rheumatology Stanford University, USA Email: Bonnie Bruce* - bbruce@; James F Fries - jff@ * Corresponding author Published: 9 June 2003 Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2003, 1:20 This article is available from: Received: 9 May 2003 Accepted: 9 June 2003 © 2003 Bruce and Fries; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this. | BioMed Central Health and Quality of Life Outcomes Review Open Access The Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire Dimensions and Practical Applications Bonnie Bruce and James F Fries Address School of Medicine Division of Immunology Rheumatology Stanford University USA Email Bonnie Bruce - bbruce@ James F Fries - jff@ Corresponding author Published 9 June 2003 Received 9 May 2003 Accepted 9 June 2003 Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2003 1 20 This article is available from http content 1 1 20 2003 Bruce and Fries licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose provided this notice is preserved along with the article s original URL. Abstract The ability to effectively measure health-related quality-of-life longitudinally is central to describing the impacts of disease treatment or other insults including normal aging upon the patient. Over the last two decades assessment of patient health status has undergone a dramatic paradigm shift evolving from a predominant reliance on biochemical and physical measurements such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate lipid profiles or radiographs to an emphasis upon health outcomes based on the patient s personal appreciation of their illness. The Health Assessment Questionnaire HAQ published in 1980 was among the first instruments based on generic patient-centered dimensions. The HAQ was designed to represent a model of patient-oriented outcome assessment and has played a major role in many diverse areas such as prediction of successful aging inversion of the therapeutic pyramid in rheumatoid arthritis RA quantification of NSAID gastropathy development of risk factor models for osteoarthrosis and examination of mortality risks in RA. Evidenced by its use over the past two decades in diverse settings the HAQ has established itself as a valuable effective and sensitive tool for measurement
