IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujhec/v23y2022i6d10.1007_s10198-021-01411-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The remarkably frequent use of EQ-5D in non-economic research

Author

Listed:
  • Aimin Wang

    (Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences
    Erasmus Medical Center
    EuroQol Group Research Foundation)

  • Kim Rand

    (Akershus University Hospital
    Math in Health B.V.
    EuroQol Group Research Foundation)

  • Zhihao Yang

    (Guizhou Medical University
    EuroQol Group Research Foundation)

  • Richard Brooks

    (Guizhou Medical University
    EuroQol Group Research Foundation)

  • Jan Busschbach

    (Erasmus Medical Center
    EuroQol Group Research Foundation)

Abstract

Introduction EQ-5D is an instrument which has been utilized for a variety of purposes, including in health-economic appraisals as an input into quality-adjusted life year (QALY) calculations. Indeed, it is the most-widely applied instrument for health-economic appraisal worldwide, and is recommended for use in QALY calculations by many national Health Technology Assessment (HTA) agencies. There is also a growing body of evidence for its usefulness in a variety of settings other than economic appraisals, but such use has not been well-documented. This study addresses this issue and documents how EQ-5D has been applied in both the non-economic and economic contexts. Methods The PubMed database was searched using the terms ‘EQ-5D’, ‘EQ-5D AND cost’, and ‘EQ-5D AND cost AND QALY’ from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 2019. We concentrated on 2019 publications for more detailed analyses. All the data collected for 2019 were downloaded and collected in EndNote. For 2019 only, we classified economic and non-economic use based on the inclusion of ‘cost’. We also checked by manual inspection whether the search terms were suitable in correctly identifying economic and non-economic use. Variants of the non-economic use of EQ-5D were classified as follows: (a) as a quality of life outcome measure; (b) as a tool for methodological research; (c) methodological issues of EQ-5D itself; (d) comparisons with other quality of life questionnaires; (e) mapping studies; (f) value sets; (g) alongside costs but no QALY calculated; and (h) other. Results The first publication found was from 1990. Up to and including 2019, 10,817 publications were identified, of which more than two in three did not contain any reference to costs or QALYs. In 2019, a total of 1409 manuscripts were identified, of which 239 were specifically for EQ-5D-5L. Four hundred and seven (28.9%) included some form of ‘costs’ and 157 (11.1%) both ‘costs’ AND ‘QALYs’ terms. For EQ-5D-5L, the corresponding numbers were 104 (43.5%) and 29 (12.1%), respectively. After manually checking all the 1409 papers, three were duplicated records, which were omitted. In the remaining 1406 papers, only 40 (2.8%) contained the term ‘cost’, but not ‘cost per QALY’, and only 117 (8.3%) were identifiable as economic evaluations using the term ‘cost per QALY’. Most non-economic use of EQ-5D was as a quality-of-life outcome measure (72.8%). Other applications were: as a tool for methodological research (6.7%); comparison studies (3.7%); EQ-5D methodological issues (3.5%); containing costs but not QALYs (2.8%); mapping (1.3%); value sets (0.4%); and other papers (0.4%). Conclusions The majority of the studies retrieved, covering a wide variety of research areas, reported upon the non-economic use of EQ-5D. Despite being the most-used instrument worldwide for QALY calculations, economic appraisal accounted for only a small, but important, part of published use.

Suggested Citation

  • Aimin Wang & Kim Rand & Zhihao Yang & Richard Brooks & Jan Busschbach, 2022. "The remarkably frequent use of EQ-5D in non-economic research," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(6), pages 1007-1014, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:23:y:2022:i:6:d:10.1007_s10198-021-01411-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10198-021-01411-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10198-021-01411-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10198-021-01411-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nancy J. Devlin & Richard Brooks, 2017. "EQ-5D and the EuroQol Group: Past, Present and Future," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 127-137, April.
    2. Matthew Kennedy-Martin & Bernhard Slaap & Michael Herdman & Mandy Reenen & Tessa Kennedy-Martin & Wolfgang Greiner & Jan Busschbach & Kristina S. Boye, 2020. "Which multi-attribute utility instruments are recommended for use in cost-utility analysis? A review of national health technology assessment (HTA) guidelines," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(8), pages 1245-1257, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Runhua Liu & Zhuxin Mao & Zhihao Yang, 2022. "Validating the Well-Being of Older People (WOOP) Instrument in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asrul Akmal Shafie & Annushiah Vasan Thakumar, 2020. "Multiplicative modelling of EQ-5D-3L TTO and VAS values," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(9), pages 1411-1420, December.
    2. Guizhi Weng & Yanming Hong & Nan Luo & Clara Mukuria & Jie Jiang & Zhihao Yang & Sha Li, 2023. "Comparing EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L in measuring the HRQoL burden of 4 health conditions in China," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(2), pages 197-207, March.
    3. Suzi Claflin & Julie A. Campbell & Richard Norman & Deborah F. Mason & Tomas Kalincik & Steve Simpson-Yap & Helmut Butzkueven & William M. Carroll & Andrew J. Palmer & C. Leigh Blizzard & Ingrid van d, 2023. "Using the EQ-5D-5L to investigate quality-of-life impacts of disease-modifying therapy policies for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in New Zealand," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(6), pages 939-950, August.
    4. Yea-Chan Lee & Da-Hye Son & Yu-Jin Kwon, 2020. "U-Shaped Association between Sleep Duration, C-Reactive Protein, and Uric Acid in Korean Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-11, April.
    5. Jen-Yu Amy Chang & Chien-Ning Hsu & Juan Manuel Ramos-Goñi & Nan Luo & Hsiang-Wen Lin & Fang-Ju Lin, 2024. "Beyond 10-year lead-times in EQ-5D-5L: leveraging alternative lead-times in willingness-to-accept questions to capture preferences for worse-than-dead states and their implication," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(6), pages 1041-1055, August.
    6. Richard Huan Xu & Eliza Lai-yi Wong & Nan Luo & Richard Norman & Jens Lehmann & Bernhard Holzner & Madeleine T. King & Georg Kemmler, 2024. "The EORTC QLU-C10D: the Hong Kong valuation study," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(5), pages 889-901, July.
    7. Stefan A. Lipman & Liying Zhang & Koonal K. Shah & Arthur E. Attema, 2023. "Time and lexicographic preferences in the valuation of EQ-5D-Y with time trade-off methodology," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(2), pages 293-305, March.
    8. Menyfah Q. Alanazi & Waleed Abdelgawwad & Thamer A. Almangour & Fatma Mostafa & Mona Almuheed, 2023. "Impact of COVID-19 on the Health-Related Quality of Life of Patients during Infection and after Recovery in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-14, March.
    9. Chen-Wei Pan & Jun-Yi He & Yan-Bo Zhu & Chun-Hua Zhao & Nan Luo & Pei Wang, 2023. "Comparison of EQ-5D-5L and EORTC QLU-C10D utilities in gastric cancer patients," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(6), pages 885-893, August.
    10. Hannah Christensen & Hareth Al-Janabi & Pierre Levy & Maarten J. Postma & David E. Bloom & Paolo Landa & Oliver Damm & David M. Salisbury & Javier Diez-Domingo & Adrian K. Towse & Paula K. Lorgelly & , 2020. "Economic evaluation of meningococcal vaccines: considerations for the future," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(2), pages 297-309, March.
    11. Mathieu F. Janssen & A. Simon Pickard & James W. Shaw, 2021. "General population normative data for the EQ-5D-3L in the five largest European economies," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(9), pages 1467-1475, December.
    12. Jiajun Yan & Shitong Xie & Jeffrey A. Johnson & Eleanor Pullenayegum & Arto Ohinmaa & Stirling Bryan & Feng Xie, 2024. "Canada population norms for the EQ-5D-5L," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(1), pages 147-155, February.
    13. Luis Eduardo Genaro & José Victor Marconato & Elaine Pereira da Silva Tagliaferro & Felipe Eduardo Pinotti & Aylton Valsecki Júnior & Tânia Adas Saliba & Fernanda Lopez Rosell, 2024. "Home Care for the Elderly: An Integrated Approach to Perception, Quality of Life, and Cognition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(5), pages 1-14, April.
    14. Cassandra Mah & Vanessa K. Noonan & Stirling Bryan & David G. T. Whitehurst, 2021. "Empirical Validity of a Generic, Preference-Based Capability Wellbeing Instrument (ICECAP-A) in the Context of Spinal Cord Injury," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 14(2), pages 223-240, March.
    15. David Flecks Howell & Agneta Malmgren Fänge & Cecilia Rogmark & Eva Ekvall Hansson, 2023. "Rehabilitation Outcomes Following Hip Fracture of Home-Based Exercise Interventions Using a Wearable Device—A Randomized Controlled Pilot and Feasibility Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-13, February.
    16. Wenjing Zhou & Anle Shen & Zhihao Yang & Pei Wang & Bin Wu & Michael Herdman & Nan Luo, 2021. "Patient-caregiver agreement and test–retest reliability of the EQ-5D-Y-3L and EQ-5D-Y-5L in paediatric patients with haematological malignancies," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(7), pages 1103-1113, September.
    17. McDaid, David & Park, A-La, 2023. "Making an economic argument for investment in global mental health: the case of conflict-affected refugees and displaced people," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118149, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Héctor Pifarré i Arolas & Christian Dudel, 2019. "An Ordinal Measure of Population Health," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1219-1243, June.
    19. Charles F. Manski, 2023. "Using Limited Trial Evidence to Credibly Choose Treatment Dosage when Efficacy and Adverse Effects Weakly Increase with Dose," NBER Working Papers 31305, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Nancy J. Devlin & Koonal K. Shah & Brendan J. Mulhern & Krystallia Pantiri & Ben van Hout, 2019. "A new method for valuing health: directly eliciting personal utility functions," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(2), pages 257-270, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:23:y:2022:i:6:d:10.1007_s10198-021-01411-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.