EQ-5D-5L reference values for the German general elderly population

Abstract

Background Reference values are a helpful tool to facilitate comparisons of sampled values against a specified reference population. The aim is to describe the health profile and to provide visual analogue scale (EQ VAS) and utility reference values for the EQ-5D-5L from a normative sample of the general elderly population (65+) in Germany. Methods We analysed a sub-set of data from the German EQ-5D-5L valuation study using self-reported information based on EQ-5D-5L. We examined the share of respondents in each severity level per dimension as well as means, standard deviations (SD) and 95% confidence intervals for the index and EQ VAS values stratified by age groups and gender. Age was categorised in four groups (65–69, 70–74, 75–79 and > 79 years) to facilitate a more detailed examination of age-related health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Results The average index and EQ VAS scores were 0.84 (SD 0.22) and 73.2 (SD 18.5), respectively. In total, 21.4% reported no problems in all dimensions. With higher age, health problems were reported more frequently, which, in turn, lead to monotonically decreasing index and EQ VAS values. Overall, men reported fewer problems than women and this difference was largest beyond the age of 80. Conclusion HRQoL in the oldest old appears to be less stable and differs from the young elderly. However, the conventional age categorisation of earlier population norms studies seems to mask these differences. Hence, the more detailed provision of EQ-5D-5L reference values for the elderly population seems helpful for future German studies.

Cost effectiveness and health-related quality of life of chemoradiotherapy versus radiation therapy alone in elderly head and neck cancer patients

“…HI scores were in line with previously published data on HNC patients from our group, demonstrating HI scores of 0.84 directly after treatment and 0.85 at the 3-and 6-month follow-up examinations [35]. Notably, average HI values in the general German elderly population (≥ 65 years) range between 0.80 and 0.85 depending on the age cohort, and are strongly comparable to the HI data obtained in this study [36][37][38]. Calculation of HI values may depend on the type of HRQoL survey, but it has been demonstrated in a large Canadian analysis that converting HRQoL scores obtained from EORTC QLQ C30 and H&N35 questionnaires into EQ-5D-based scores results in highly comparable HI values in HNC patients [39,40].…”

“…Calculation of HI values may depend on the type of HRQoL survey, but it has been demonstrated in a large Canadian analysis that converting HRQoL scores obtained from EORTC QLQ C30 and H&N35 questionnaires into EQ-5D-based scores results in highly comparable HI values in HNC patients [ 39 , 40 ]. Similarly, the published VAS score for the general German elderly population amounts to 73.2, and gender-specific VAS values in females and males ≥ 70 years have been reported at 71.7 and 70.8, respectively, demonstrating data comparable to the patients included in this analysis [ 36 , 41 ]. Comparable HRQoL values between the general German population and surviving elderly HNC patients undergoing CRT or RT have also been reported previously [ 15 ].…”

“…The exact comparison of individual QoL questionnaires remains to be elucidated in a wider real-world clinical setting [ 48 ]. Especially considering the specific characteristics of elderly cancer patients, the performance of the EQ-5D questionnaire needs to be further evaluated against other QoL tools [ 36 , 49 ].…”

The Role of Perceived Utility of Full Health in Age Weighting

“…There is evidence to suggest that subjects are too pessimistic about the health status of older people. [35][36][37][38] Obtained age weights could then partly be biased by wrong expectations about how health status deteriorates as we grow old. In that sense, we hope that this study inspires more research in relation to age weighting and age-related health (utility) differences.…”

Quality of life and its association with individual and park characteristics among elderly qi gong practitioners in Malaysia

“…This result was higher than a published article by Marten and Greiner. 27 They sampled 1000 respondents among German elderly who were not affiliated with groups organised for physical activity. Marten and Greiner 27 obtained IUV of 0.84±0.22.…”