This paper provides a selective review of instruments currently being employed to evaluate generic health-related quality of life in studies of persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Instruments examined include the Quality of Well-Being Scale, the HIV Overview of Problems/Evaluation System, the COOP Charts, and six Medical Outcomes Study-based measures: the SF-20, SF-30, AIDS-HAQ, SF-36, SF-38 and SF-56. Relative strengths and weaknesses of the measures are discussed.