Qualitative review on domains of quality of life important for patients, social care users, and informal carers to inform the development of the EQ health and wellbeing

Objectives: To identify the themes to inform the content of a new generic measure, the EQ Health and Wellbeing (EQ-HWB), that can be used in economic evaluation across health, social care, and public health, based on the views of users and beneficiaries of these services including informal carers. Methods: A qualitative review was undertaken. Systematic and citation searches were undertaken focusing on qualitative evidence of the impact on quality of life from reviews for selected health conditions, informal carers, social care users, and primary qualitative work used in the development of selected measures. A subset of studies was included in the review. Framework analysis and synthesis were undertaken based on a conceptual model. Results: A total of 42 reviews and 24 primary studies were selected for inclusion in the review. Extraction and synthesis resulted in 7 high-level themes (with subthemes): (1) feelings and emotions (sadness, anxiety, hope, frustration, safety, guilt/shame); (2) cognition (concentration, memory, confusion, thinking clearly); (3) self-identity (dignity/respect, self-esteem); (4) “coping, autonomy, and control” relationships; (5) social connections (loneliness, social engagement, stigma, support, friendship, belonging, burden); (6) physical sensations (pain, discomfort, sleep, fatigue); and (7) activity (self-care, meaningful activities, mobility, communication, hearing, vision). Apart from physical sensations, most of the other themes and subthemes were relevant across both health and social care, including for informal carers. Conclusions: The findings from this broad review identified themes that go beyond health and that are relevant to patients, informal carers, and social care users. The themes and subthemes informed the domains for the EQ Health and Wellbeing.