Valuation of the EQ-5D-3L in Russia

The most widely used generic questionnaire to estimate the quality of life for yielding quality-adjusted life years in economic evaluations is EQ-5D. Country-specific population value sets are required to use EQ-5D in economic evaluations. The aim of this study was to establish an EQ-5D-3L value set for Russia.

A representative sample aged 18+ years was recruited from the Russia`s general population. Computer-assisted face-to-face interviews were conducted based on the standardized valuation protocol using EQ-Portable Valuation Technology. Population preferences were elicited utilizing both composite time trade-off (cTTO) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) techniques. To estimate the value set, a hybrid regression model combining cTTO and DCE data was used.

A total of 300 respondents who successfully completed the interview were included in the primary analysis. 120 (40.0%) respondents reported no health problems of any dimension, and 56 (18.7%) reported moderate health problems in one dimension of the EQ-5D-3L. Median self-rated health using EQ-VAS was 80 with IQR 70-90. Comparing cTTO and DCE-predicted values for 243 health states resulted in a similar pattern. This supports the use of hybrid models. The predicted value based on the preferred model for the worst health state "33333" was -0.503. Mobility dimension had the most significant impact on the utility decrement, and anxiety/depression had the lowest decrement.

Determining a Russian national value set may be considered the first step towards promoting cost-utility analysis use to increase comparability among studies and improve the transferability of healthcare decision-making in Russia.