Background - The UK norms have not been updated for the EQ-5D-3L since the original dataset for the population norms was collected in 1993 in a stated preference, time-trade off study in England, Scotland and Wales (Kind et al., 1999).
Objectives – To assess the validity of EQ-5D-3L as used in a housing study in 2014.
Methods – Participants were recruited using purposive sampling of social housing tenants in North East England who were in receipt of a suite of home improvements aimed at reducing health risks. Participants were asked to fill in questionnaires about the whole household, including demographic, health service use and health related quality of life questions.
The baseline EQ-5D-3L results from this North East England cohort were compared to the published weighted health state index according to age, housing tenure, smoking status, gender, and region of the UK. The interpretation of this quality of life questionnaire is based on choice-based population norms derived from a survey of 3395 men and women aged 18 or over in the UK in 1993, some 26 years ago. In relation to this study, whilst the value set considers different scoring for age and housing tenure, are these population norms valid 26 years later?
Results – The participants in this study demonstrated significant poor health in comparison to their regional and UK counterparts in 2014. Their scores are considerably disparate compared to the EQ-5D UK population norm in general, by UK region and by social housing status.
Conclusion – In the case of housing studies or studies concerning disadvantaged populations, the EQ-5D UK population norm of 0.86 may not be considered representative of the UK population 24 years after the population norms were calculated.