EuroQol
LASAe135
LASAe335
LASAf135
LASAf335
Jan Poppelaars , Natasja van Schoor , Geeske Peeters
Date of last revision: 13-03-2009
Background
To measure the quality of life in older people, the EuroQol was assessed. The EuroQol is a generic quality of life instrument. This means that it can be used for patients with different diseases. An example of a study in which the EuroQol was used is the study of Oleksik.(1) An advantage of a generic quality of life instrument is that it enables comparison between different studies and different study populations. In addition, the EuroQol is often used in cost studies.
Instrument
The questionnaire consists of five questions, each representing one domain: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression. The answer options differ between the questions, but can roughly be divided into: no problems, some problems, extreme problems. In addition, self-rated health is scored on a visual analogue scale (EQ VAS).
Measurement in LASA
Data on the EuroQol are obtained by a self-administered questionnaire from LASA cycle E and F. 1691 respondents participated in cycle E. Of those, 217 were interviewed by telephone and 1474 respondents participated in the main face-to-face interview. From them, 1290 responded to the EuroQol (response rate: 1290/1474=87.5%).
LASAe/f135 includes the scores on the five questions and the VAS.
LASAe/f335 includes the index scores (see also sub 3).
In observational population studies, three applications of the EuroQol are suggested:
(1) Descriptive system; (2) EQ VAS; (3) Index scores.(2)
(sub 1) The descriptive system includes, for example, reporting the frequency of persons with no problems, some problems and extreme problems per domain.
(sub 2) The EQ VAS can be reported as a mean score (and standard deviation), or mean and median scores (mean score should always be reported).
(sub 3) Health states defined by the 5-dimensional descriptive system can be converted into a weighted health state index by applying scores from ‘value sets’ elicited from general population samples. If a person responds in the following way on the five questions of the EuroQol: Q1: 1, Q2: 2, Q3: 3, Q4: 2, Q4: 1, the health state is 12321.
The index scores can be presented in similar ways to the EQ VAS scores. In a longitudinal design, a figure could be more informative.(2) Two different methods were used to calculate index-scores in LASA:
(1) Dutch VAS-based valuation 3 (EQEQIXNL, FQEQIXNL)
(2) English Time Trade Off valuation (EQEQIXUK, FQEQIXNL) (4)
Syntaxes are enclosed.
Previous use in LASA
van Schoor NM, Smit JH, Twisk JW, Lips P. Impact of vertebral deformities, osteoarthritis, and other chronic diseases on quality of life: a population-based study. Osteoporos Int 2005; 16: 749-56.
Reference List
1. Oleksik A, Lips P, Dawson A, et al. Health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women with low BMD with or without prevalent vertebral fractures. J Bone Miner Res. 2000;15:1384-92.
2. Brooks R, Rabin R , de Charro F, Editors. The Measurement and Valuation of Health Status Using EQ-5D: A European Perspective. Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2003.
3. Busschbach JJ, McDonnell J, Essink-Bot ML, van Hout BA. Estimating parametric relationships between health description and health valuation with an application to the EuroQol EQ-5D. J Health Economics. 1999;18:551-71.
4. Dolan P. Modeling valuations for EuroQol health states. Med Care. 1997;35:1095-108.
5. Lamers LM, Stalmeier PF, McDonnell J, Krabbe PF, van Busschbach JJ (2005) [Measuring the quality of life in economic evaluations: the Dutch EQ-5D tariff]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd, 149, 1574-1578.
Syntax
*** Valuation of the health status based on the Time Trade Off method (Dolan P, UK) and website Jan Busschbach: www.xs4all.nl/~jannetvb/busschbach ***
comp eqeqixuk = 1.
if (eqeq5d1 = 2) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .069.
If (eqeq5d1 = 3) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .314.
if (eqeq5d2 = 2) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .104.
if (eqeq5d2 = 3) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .214.
if (eqeq5d3 = 2) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .036.
if (eqeq5d3 = 3) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .094.
if (eqeq5d4 = 2) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .123.
if (eqeq5d4 = 3) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .386.
if (eqeq5d5 = 2) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .071.
if (eqeq5d5 = 3) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .236.
if (eqeq5d1 <> 1 or eqeq5d2 <> 1 or eqeq5d3 <> 1 or eqeq5d4 <> 1
or eqeq5d5 <> 1) eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .081.
if (eqeq5d1 = 3 or eqeq5d2 = 3 or eqeq5d3 = 3 or eqeq5d4 = 3 or eqeq5d5 = 3)
eqeqixuk = eqeqixuk - .269.
if (eqeq5d1=-1 or eqeq5d2=-1 or eqeq5d3=-1 or eqeq5d4=-1 or eqeq5d5=-1)
eqeqixuk = -2.
format eqeqixuk (f6.2).
var lab eqeqixuk 'Euroquol TTO-method Index UK'.
val lab eqeqixuk
-2 'no valid score'
1 'perfect health status'.
**Zelfde berekening als hierboven, maar dan gebruik gemaakt van NL weegfactoren uit artikel van LM Lamers et al, Ned Tijdschr Geneeskunde, 2005.(5)
comp eqeqixnl = 1.
if (eqeq5d1 = 2) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .036.
If (eqeq5d1 = 3) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .161.
if (eqeq5d2 = 2) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .082.
if (eqeq5d2 = 3) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .152.
if (eqeq5d3 = 2) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .032.
if (eqeq5d3 = 3) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .057.
if (eqeq5d4 = 2) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .086.
if (eqeq5d4 = 3) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .329.
if (eqeq5d5 = 2) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .124.
if (eqeq5d5 = 3) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .325.
if (eqeq5d1 <> 1 or eqeq5d2 <> 1 or eqeq5d3 <> 1 or eqeq5d4 <> 1
or eqeq5d5 <> 1) eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .071.
if (eqeq5d1 = 3 or eqeq5d2 = 3 or eqeq5d3 = 3 or eqeq5d4 = 3 or eqeq5d5 = 3)
eqeqixnl = eqeqixnl - .234.
if (eqeq5d1=-1 or eqeq5d2=-1 or eqeq5d3=-1 or eqeq5d4=-1 or eqeq5d5=-1)
eqeqixnl = -2.
format eqeqixnl (f6.2).
var lab eqeqixnl 'Euroquol TTO-method Index NL'.
val lab eqeqixnl
-2 'no valid score'
1 'perfect health status'.
