EuroQol
2024
The EuroQol Group first met in 1987 in order to develop a standardized non-disease specific instrument to describe and value health-related quality of life. A process based on shared development, local experimentation and discussion resulted in EQ-5D, a measure that generates a single index value for health status for use in health care evaluation.
EQ-5D is a standardized instrument developed as a measure of health-related quality of life that can be used in a wide range of health conditions and treatments. The EQ-5D consists of a descriptive system and the EQ VAS.
The descriptive system comprises five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The EQ VAS records the patient’s self-rated health on a vertical visual analogue scale. This can be used as a quantitative measure of health outcome that reflects the patient’s own judgment. The scores on these five dimensions can be presented as a health profile or can be converted to a single summary index number (utility) reflecting preferability compared to other health profiles.
Currently three versions of EQ-5D exist:
- EQ-5D with 3 levels of severity for each of the 5 dimensions: EQ-5D-3L
- EQ-5D with 5 levels of severity for each of the 5 dimensions: EQ-5D-5L
- EQ-5D for use in children: EQ-5D-Y
All three versions are available in a wide range of languages and modes of administration.
Source:
Euroqol. https://euroqol.org