The Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) is a general

patient reported outcome A patient-reported outcome (PRO) is a health outcome directly reported by the patient who experienced it. It stands in contrast to an outcome reported by someone else, such as a physician-reported outcome, a nurse-reported outcome, and so on. PRO m ...

measure which seeks to measure subjective health status. It is a

questionnaire A questionnaire is a research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, ...

designed to measure a patient’s view of their own health status, in a number of areas. It can be completed in 5 minutes. The NHP consists of two parts. The first part focuses on health and comprises 38 items which deal with pain, energy, sleep, mobility, emotional reaction and social isolation. The second part focuses on life areas affected and consists of 7 items which deal with problems regarding occupation, housework, social life, family life, sexual function, hobbies and holidays. The second part of the NHP is optional and can be omitted without ruining the test results. All questions have only yes/no answer options and each section score is weighted. The higher the score, the greater the number and severity of problems. The highest score in any section is 100. __TOC__

Development

Work on the NHP began in 1975 at the Department of Community Health at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. The principle researchers involved in the project were Sonja M. Hunt, J. McEwen and S.P. McKenna. 2200 statements describing the effects of poor health were collected from over 700 patients, which covered social, psychological, physical and behavioural sectors. Key concepts were identified from these statements, and many were removed due to redundancy. 138 statements remained, and a series of studies were conducted between 1976 and 1978 in order to refine the number of statements to a further extent. The studies were conducted on a wide range of patients in order to ensure the general efficacy of the NHP. In 1978, a grant was received from the

Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a he ...

in order to further develop the NHP into a population survey tool. This meant making the profile easier to read, quick and simple to answer and commonly understood. After further testing, statements that fit this criteria were retained and this resulted in the 45 item questionnaire. Current copyright of the NHP is owned by Galen Research.

International Use

Since its development, the NHP has been used by a number of organisations worldwide. The NHP has been translated into 24 languages other than UK English which include Spanish, Danish, French and German. It has been used in research studies worldwide in order to determine the effect a given disease has on a patient’s quality of life. Examples of such studies are investigations into the effect of

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

brain tumour A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...

patients,

fatigue Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...

in post-polio patients and the sleep, fragility and cognition of the elderly. The profile has also been utilized in clinical research studies in order to determine whether a treatment is effective. If a patient’s score on the questionnaire is significantly different after the treatment, this indicates that the treatment has had an effect. Clinical research studies where the NHP was utilized include investigations into

erythropoiesis-stimulating agents Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) are medications which stimulate the bone marrow to make red blood cells. They are used to treat anemia due to end stage kidney disease, chemotherapy, major surgery, or certain treatments in HIV/AIDS. In ...

glucocorticoid Glucocorticoids (or, less commonly, glucocorticosteroids) are a class of corticosteroids, which are a class of steroid hormones. Glucocorticoids are corticosteroids that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor that is present in almost every vertebr ...

replacement therapy and

transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS or TNS) is the use of electric current produced by a device to stimulate the nerves for therapeutic purposes. TENS, by definition, covers the complete range of transcutaneously applied currents ...

for

tinnitus Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no corresponding external sound is present. Nearly everyone experiences a faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely quiet room; but it is of concern only if it is bothersome, interferes with normal hearin ...

References

{{reflist Clinical research