Changes in the key areas of quality of life associated with age and time since diagnosis of long-term conditions

This study examined whether quality of life areas, that were considered to be important by people with long-term and chronic conditions, altered as a function of their age (‘maturational’) and time since diagnosis (‘adaptational’). Seventy-one individuals from two age groups (31–40 and 41–50 years), who had been diagnosed for different lengths of time (<1 year and 10–20 years), creating four groups, were asked to say what quality of life meant to them, and the results were qualitatively analysed. The key theme in determining the quality of life across the entire sample was ‘independence and normality’ in the participants’ lives. However, the other key themes differed across the groups, suggesting that both ‘maturation’ and ‘adaptation’ play a role in determining the key areas that people consider, relating to their quality of life. The younger newly diagnosed group made more mention of ‘involvement’ than the other three groups, all of which mentioned different forms of wellbeing (social-emotional, physical and psychological) as the second most important aspect of their quality of life. These findings have implications for the assessment of quality of life.