Background: It is accepted the desirability of measuring related quality of life (HRQOL) as a variable of interest in clinical research, for which there is a great variety of measurement tools. The aim of this article is to describe basic concepts concerning HRQOL and some examples of instruments used to assess this construct. Material and methods: A search on engines Altavista, Google and Yahoo, in Ixquick and Copérnico metasearch and in the database "Documents in Information Science" (DoIS) was performed. The search strategy used the terms "Quality of Life", "Health-related quality of life", "HRQOL" and "Outcome Assessment (Health Care)". After locating articles, these were evaluated and a summary document of collected information was developed. Results: The performed search gave a wide variety of generic and specific instruments. Conclusion: There are many instruments to measure HRQOL. Knowing constitutes an aid for professional practice and clinical research.