Published online Jul 18, 2017. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v9.i20.867
Peer-review started: February 26, 2017
First decision: March 29, 2017
Revised: May 15, 2017
Accepted: May 22, 2017
Article in press: May 24, 2017
Published online: July 18, 2017
Processing time: 145 Days and 23.2 Hours
Core tip: Health related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important clinical parameter and research endpoint in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Instruments discussed are short form (SF)-36, SF-12, EQ-5D, World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL) 100, WHOQOL-BREF, the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT)-G, Spitzer QoL index, EORTC QLQ-HCC18, FACT-Hep, FHSI-8, TOI. Important utilization of HRQOL included measurement and monitoring of HRQOL, treatment endpoint in clinical trial, prognostication of survival, benchmarking of palliative care service and health care valuation. Various difficulties in using HRQOL data in research and clinical practice, including choosing a suitable instrument, missing data, data interpretation, analysis and presentation are explained. Potential solutions are also discussed.