Glossary
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- QA Tools
- See RAND Quality Assessment Tools
- Qualitative analysis
- A kind of empirical investigation in which hypotheses may not be clearly formed in advance but that is designed to generate data from which hypotheses might be generated. To examine a process or an objective of interest to determine the nature of its elements or components.
- Quality improvement
- The continuous study and upgrading of the processes of providing health care services to meet the needs of individuals and systems of care.
- Quality of care
- According to the Institute of Medicine, 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 of Life
- A broad construct reflecting subjective or objective judgment concerning all aspects of an individual's existence: health, economic, political, cultural, environmental, aesthetic, and spiritual.
- Quality-adjusted life expectancy
- Life expectancy computed using quality-adjusted life years (QALY) rather than nominal life years.
- Quality-Adjusted Life Year
- A year of life adjusted for its quality or its value. Each year in perfect health has a value of 1.0 QALY. The value of a year in ill health is discounted. For example, a year in which an individual is confined to a wheelchair might have a value of 0.7 QALY.
- Quasi-experimental study
- An experimental design that does not meet all requirements for controlling the effects of extraneous factors on the outcome of interest. Typically, in a quasi-experimental study, it is not possible to assign participants randomly to either an experimental or control group.