Quebec Health-Related Quality-of-Life Population Norms Using the EQ-5D-5L: Decomposition by Sociodemographic Data and Health Problems
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine Quebec population norms from the questionnaire EQ-5D-5L (a self-assessed, health related, quality of life questionnaire). Among people who completed the questionnaire, those with lower scores were those who had a low or high body mass index; were smokers; were single, divorced, or widowed; had no children; were unemployed or sick; had lower education or lower annual income; and had a family or personal history of serious illness. Immigrants had higher scores. There was no difference in gender and urban or rural population. The score logically decreased with worsening health status. Similar results were observed for subjects’ satisfaction with their health or life. Subjects with lower scores were less willing to take risks. Subjects who declared they were affected by health problems presented significant lower utility scores (utility score reflects the level of physical, mental, and social functioning associated with a particular health state and the preference weight the general population gives to that health state). This is the first study to present utility score norms for EQ-5D-5L for the Quebec population. These results will be useful for comparison with quality-adjusted life-year studies to better interpret their results. Moreover, utility norms were provided for 21 health problems, which was rarely done.
Notes
Key findings
The objective of the study was to establish population norms for Quebec.
The study assessed a questionnaire about the quality of life called EQ-5D-5L (a self-assessed, health related, quality of life questionnaire). It compared the results between Alberta (the study that has been conducted previously) and Quebec.
Among people who completed the questionnaire, those with lower scores were those who had a low or high body mass index; were smokers; were single, divorced, or widowed; had no children; were unemployed or sick; had lower education or lower annual income; and had a family or personal history of serious illness. Immigrants had higher scores. There was no difference in gender and urban or rural population. The score logically decreased with worsening health status. Similar results were observed for subjects’ satisfaction with their health or life. Subjects with lower scores were less willing to take risks. Subjects who declared they were affected by health problems presented significant lower utility scores (utility score reflects the level of physical, mental, and social functioning associated with a particular health state and the preference weight the general population gives to that health state).
The study shows that EQ-5D-5L is a working tool to determine population norms and access the state of health and well-being of people in Canada. It provided “utility norms” for Quebec for this questionnaire which can be used in future studies.
Community organizations
NA
Location
Quebec
Key recommendations
NA
Key populations
residents of Quebec
Gaps identified
No population norms for Quebec
Integration timeline
At what point during the integration process the study was conducted?
NA
Open-access – Yes
https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(19)32352-6/fulltext?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1098301519323526%3Fshowall%3Dtrue