The National Health Measurement Study Updated 5/22/08
From June 2005 to August 2006 we conducted a national telephone survey of 3,844 adults between the ages of 35 and 89 to obtain age and gender "benchmarks" for health measures in the adult U.S. population. We are in the data analysis phase and are exploring how these health measures are related to other factors, including obesity, chronic diseases and psychological well-being. Our public use data set will be available to other researchers in the summer of 2008. Click on the "National Health Measurement Study" link above to view preliminary results and learn more about our current research.

Health Measurement in Patients:
Tracking Clinical Outcomes
We are evaluating the usefulness of self-completed questionnaires to measure health-related quality of life among clinical patients. We are following 1-month and 6-month outcomes of two patient populations with age-related disease: heart failure patients and cataract extraction patients. Patients will be asked to complete mailed surveys regarding their health-related quality of life at these time periods. The study will then compare these results to patients’ baseline assessments.

Health Measurement in Patients:
Does Measurement Method Make a Difference?
We are evaluating the extent to which the measurement method affects health-related quality of life assessment. For the same patients enrolled in the "Tracking Clinical Outcomes" study (above), we will gather 6-month outcome data on health-related quality of life measures from telephone interviews. The study will then compare these results to those gathered from the self-completed questionnaires.