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Glossary of terms used in health research - Q

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  • Q statistic
    • A χ2 test to assess heterogeneity across the studies included in a meta-analysis, in which the effect size of study is compared with the pooled estimate. From the point of view of validity, power, and computational ease, this test of heterogeneity is the best choice.
  • Qualitative meta-analysis
    • The part of meta-analysis concerning with the appraisal of the methods used in each individual study.
  • Qualitative methods
    • Wikipedia
      A research approach that emphasizes the non-numerical data and interpretive analysis.
  • Qualitative research
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Qualitative research focuses on social and interpreted, rather than quantifiable, phenomena and aims to discover, interpret, and describe rather than to test and evaluate. Qualitative research makes inductive, descriptive inferences to theory concerning social experiences or settings, whereas quantitative research makes causal or correlational inferences to populations. Qualitative research is not a single method but a family of analytic approaches that rely on the description and interpretation of qualitative data. Specific methods include, for example, grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, case study, critical theory, and historiography.
      Research that derives data from observation, interviews, or verbal interactions and focuses on the meanings and interpretations of the participants.
  • Quality
    • A vague notion of the methodological strength of a study, usually indicating the extent of bias prevention.
  • Quality-adjusted life expectancy
    • The number of years of expected life corrected for the quality of life that patients are expected to experience in those years.
  • Quality-adjusted life-year (QALY)
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A unit of measure for survival that accounts for the effects of suboptimal health status and the resulting limitations in quality of life. For example, if a patient lives for 10 years and his or her quality of life is decreased by 50% because of chronic lung disease, survival would be equivalent to 5 quality-adjusted life-years.
      A measure that combines mortality and quality of life gains (outcome of a treatment measured as the number of years of life saved, adjusted for quality).
      A summary measure of health gain that combines (changes in) life expectancy and quality of life. It uses health utilities to weight improvements in life expectancy according to the quality of life experienced. Thus, a given state of health (say living with chronic pain) may be assigned a utility of (say) 0.75. Living for 20 years in this state of health would then be considered equivalent to 15 QALYs (20×0.75) and an intervention that prevented people from entering this state would lead to a health gain of five QALYs.
      A measurement index derived from a modification of standard life-table procedures and designed to take account of the quality as well as the duration of survival. This index can be used in assessing the outcome of health care procedures or services.
  • Quality assurance
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A system to ensure that the study is performed and the data are generated, recorded and reported in compliance with the protocol, good clinical practice and national regulations.
      All those planned and systematic actions that are established to ensure that the trial is performed and the data are generated, documented (recorded), and reported in compliance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirement(s).
      System of procedures, checks, audits and corrective actions to ensure that all testing, sampling, analysis, monitoring and other technical and reporting activities are of the highest achievable quality.
      Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.
  • Quality control
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The operational techniques and activities undertaken within the quality assurance system to verify that the requirements for quality of the trial related activities have been fulfilled.
      The supervision and control of all operations involved in a process usually involving sampling and inspection, in order to detect and correct systematic or excessively random variations in quality.
      A system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in a product or process by careful planning, use of proper equipment, continued inspection, and corrective action as required.
  • Quality improvement
    • An approach to defining, measuring, improving, and controlling practices to maintain or improve the appropriateness of health care services.
  • Quality of a study
    • The global appraisal of a study according to a validated and pretested protocol. Nevertheless, given that different scales yield divergent results, analyses based on a summary score of quality should be interpreted with caution. It is easier in clinical trials than in observational studies. Reviewers should be blind for the information that could influence the evaluation (authors, institutions, journal, direction of the association, etc).
  • Quality of health care
    • MeSH
      The extent to which health care meets technical and humanistic standards of optimal care.
      The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.
  • Quality of life
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and political science.
      A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life.
  • Quality of life trials
    • Wikipedia
      Refers to trials that explore ways to improve comfort and quality of life for individuals with a chronic illness.
  • Quality of medical care
    • The degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.
  • Quality score
    • A value assigned to represent the validity of a study either for a specific criterion, such as concealment of allocation, or overall. Quality scores can use letters (A, B, C) or numbers.
  • Quality standards
    • Quality standards are generally accepted principles or sets of rules for the best/most appropriate way to implement an interventions. Frequently they refer to structural (formal) aspects of quality assurance, such as environment and staff composition. However, they may also refer to process aspects such as adequacy of content, process of the intervention or evaluation processes.
  • Quantitative methods
    • Wikipedia
      A research approach that emphasizes the collection of numerical data or data than can be quantified, and statistical analysis.
  • Quantitative research
    • Wikipedia
      The investigation of phenomena that lend themselves to test well-specified hypotheses through precise measurement and quantification of predetermined variables that yield numbers suitable for statistical analysis.
  • Quasi-random allocation
    • Methods of allocating people to a trial that are not random, but were intended to produce similar groups when used to allocate participants. Quasi-random methods include: allocation by the person's date of birth, by the day of the week or month of the year, by a person's medical record number, or just allocating every alternate person. In practice, these methods of allocation are relatively easy to manipulate, introducing selection bias.
  • Quasi randomized
    • A trial using a method of allocating participants to different forms of care that is not truly random; for example, allocation by date of birth, day of the week, medical record number, month of the year, or the order in which participants are included in the study (e.g. alternation).
  • Questionnaire
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A means of collecting data from people where they provide written responses to a set of questions, either in their own words (open-ended questions), or by selecting from among pre-defined answers (closed response questions).
      Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.