Health related quality of life aspects not captured by EQ-5D-5L: Results from an international survey of patients

Background

In this paper we discuss and present evidence on whether a generic Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) measurement tool, the EQ-5D-5L, captures the dimensions of quality of life (QoL) which patients consider significant.

Methods

An online survey, of individuals with a chronic condition, mainly breast cancer (BC), blood cancers (BLC), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), asthma, and rare diseases (RD) was conducted to collect data on HRQoL and important QoL aspects that respondents thought were not captured by the EQ-5D-5L. Patient organisations across 47 countries were invited to voluntarily share the survey tool with their membership network.

Results

767 responses from 38 countries showed that important QoL aspects were not captured by EQ-5D-5L for 51% of respondents, including fatigue (19%) and medication side effects (12%), among others. Fatigue (17%) was also the most commonly reported QoL aspect that changed over the course of patients’ illness, suggesting that the current version of the EQ-5D-5L might miss capturing significant clinical changes in important QoL domains.

Conclusions

Utilisation of the EQ-5D-5L in HRQoL measurement raises inconsistencies in capturing QoL attributes and changes in disease-specific patient populations. Further research is needed to clarify the extent to which other generic HRQoL measurement tools capture the aspects of health that really matter for patients.