Health-related quality of life is a multidimensional concept which describes relevant aspects of physical, emotional and social well-being as reported by patients. Numerous generic and disease-specific instruments for measuring health-related quality of life have been developed and in addition preference-based instruments are available for use in health economic evaluation. The SF-36 and EQ-5D questionnaires belong to the most frequently used generic measures of quality of life. The Trauma Outcome Profile (TOP) and the Quality of Life after Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) questionnaires are disease-specific measures designed to assess health-related quality of life after trauma. In the context of a brief description of these questionnaires several examples of their use in studies of patients after trauma are given. These examples show that successful conceptual and methodological developments in quality of life research provide a sound basis for patient-oriented outcome assessment after trauma.