ETHICAL ASPECTS OF RESEARCH ON QUALITY OF LIFE OF CHRONIC PATIENTS

The term 'quality of life' is used almost excessively as an aim of health policies. Sensitive aspects, which are related to its multidimensional and subjective character, are minimized. The problem of consensus when defining the concept is due to the fact that the term is vague, difficult to capture in an operational definition which is absolutely necessary in scientific research. The agreement regarding the multidimensional nature of quality of life is reflected mostly in three fields: physiological, psychological and social. A fourth field, the spiritual one, has been evaluated in a few research papers. The study aims to emphasize certain ethical questions connected to the definition and methodology of research on the concept of quality of life in relation to health, ethical obligations of the researchers in the field regarding the use of results, power relationship between researcher and patient, use of respondents' experiences in understanding the concept, etc.