The EQ-5D-5L Valuation study in Thailand

ABSTRACT

Background: At present, health technology assessment (HTA) guidelines of many countries including Thailand have recommended EQ-5D as the preferred method for assessing utility. This study aims to generate an EQ-5D-5L value set based on societal preferences of Thai population.

Methods: A 1,207 representative sample was recruited using a stratified multi-stage quota sampling technique. Face-to-face, computer-assisted interviews using the EuroQol Valuation Technology (EQ-VT) software were employed. To elicit preference score, each respondent was asked to value health states using composite time trade-off (cTTO), and discrete choice experiment (DCE). All data were integrated and analyzed using a hybrid regression model to estimate the value set.

Results: Characteristics of 1,207 participants were generally similar to those of Thai general population. The coefficients generated from a hybrid model were logically consistent. The second best value is 0.9436 for health state 11121 and the worst state (55555) value is −0.4212. Mobility shows the greatest impact to utility decrement.

Conclusions: Our study developed a Thai value set for EQ-5D using hybrid model. The findings from this study are of important to facilitate health technology assessment studies to inform policy decision-making as well as to promote the use of EQ-5D-5L in various health research in Thailand.

KEYWORDS:

• EQ-5D-5L
• health status index
• quality of life
• utility
• value set

Acknowledgments

This publication is a part of the degree of doctor of philosophy (pharmacy administration), faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University. The Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP) is supported by the Thailand Research Fund under the Senior Research Scholar on Health Technology Assessment (RTA5580010). The findings and opinions in this report have not been endorsed by the above agencies and do not reflect the policy stance of these organizations.

We would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave us the possibility to complete this research. We are grateful to the Thai National Statistical Office, interviewers, coordinators and respondents for their kindness and facilitation of the data collection.

Declaration of Interest

J Manuel Ramos-Goñi is a member of the EuroQol Research Foundation (the copyright holders of the EQ-5D-5L). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer Disclosures

A reviewer on this manuscript has disclosed that they are members of the EQ Research Foundation.

Author contributions

JP, MT, and YT designed the study, acquired the funding, and provided detailed information regarding data collection processes in Thailand. JMR performed data quality control, and provided command for analysis. JP analyzed the data and prepared manuscript. All authors review the analysis, interpretation of the results, and reviewed the final manuscript.

Compliance with ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were comply with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee (the Mahidol University Institutional Review Board (MU-IRB), Thailand; and the Institute for the Development of Human Research Protections (IHRP), Ministry of Public Health, Thailand)

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This project was financial supported by the Burden of Disease Research Program Thailand; and the EuroQol foundation, The Netherlands.