EQ-5D Measurement Properties Evaluation

This study aimed at assessing measurement properties for 3L and 5L in eight broad patient groups. A student cohort was added in order to investigate how both instruments perform in a healthy population sample. Respondents completed both the 3L and 5L in six countries: Denmark, England, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Scotland. Data collection in Denmark was conducted through the endocrinology, rheumatology, and orthopedic departments of a regional university hospital. Data collection in England was organized through a specialist patient recruitment agency and aimed at patients with prespecified conditions. In Italy the cohort of liver disease patients completed the questionnaires locally at two hospitals (Bergamo and Naples). Data collection in the Netherlands was conducted at a specialist center for personality disorders and at a local hospital for the kidney dialysis patients. In Poland, the student cohort was recruited at the Medical University of Warsaw in Poland, and the stroke cohort was recruited through the Neurological Clinic in Warsaw. Data collection in Scotland took place through a specialist patient recruitment agency, with patients completing the questionnaires at primary care centers. Paper and pencil versions of the questionnaires were used in all countries except in England where data collection took place online. Data collection took place between August 2009 and September 2010. The 5L was administered first, followed by the EQ-5D visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) and a number of demographic questions, then the 3L, and finally a set of five dimension-specific rating scales. All respondents scored 5L first, as a previous study showed a tendency to avoid the in-between levels 2 and 4 of 5L when responding to the 3L first [20 (link)]. Data collection was undertaken with informed consent and according to the ethical guidelines for health research in each country.