Quality of Life (QoL)

Last reviewed Saturday, October 24, 2026

Quality of life (QoL) is your overall sense of how your life is going: your physical health, mood, relationships, independence and surroundings, judged against your own goals and values. The World Health Organization defines it as a person’s own view of their position in life, in the context of their culture and values. Health workers measure it with short questionnaires.

Also called: QoL or QOL; health-related quality of life (HRQoL), when it focuses on the parts your health affects. It overlaps with wellbeing and life satisfaction.

What it covers

WHO’s short questionnaire scores four areas of life:

physical health, such as energy, pain and sleep
psychological health, such as mood and self-esteem
social relationships
environment: your home, money, safety and services

How it’s measured

WHOQOL-BREF: WHO’s 26-question version, tested with 11,830 adults in 23 countries. It gives a score for each area, plus your overall rating of your life and health.
SF-36: 36 questions developed by RAND in 1992, covering eight areas, including physical functioning, pain, energy, emotional wellbeing and social functioning.
EQ-5D: five areas (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain or discomfort, and anxiety or depression) plus a scale from the best to the worst health you can imagine.

Scores are most useful for tracking change. Therapy and other treatment can be judged by whether your quality of life improves, not only by whether symptoms fall.

In Nigeria

A Yoruba translation of the WHOQOL-BREF was tested against the English version with 41 stroke survivors in south-west Nigeria, and found valid. Nigerian studies also measure quality of life in people living with HIV, tuberculosis and other long-term conditions. WHO also offers a module on spirituality, religion and personal beliefs, for people whose faith shapes how they judge their lives.

How it differs from wellbeing

Wellbeing usually means how you feel and function day to day. Quality of life is broader: it adds your health, independence and surroundings, and how they compare with what you hope for.

When to get help

If your quality of life has dropped and stayed low, and you’re getting through the days rather than living them, a licensed therapist on Mytherapist.ng can help you work out what’s driving it. Browse therapists for general mental health and wellbeing.

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