General population normative data for the EQ-5D-3L in the five largest European economies

The EQ-5D is a generic measure of health that is widely applied for health economic and non-economic purposes. Population norms can be used to facilitate the interpretation of EQ-5D data. The objective of this study was to develop a set of pooled normative EQ-5D-3L values for the five largest European economies (EUR5).

EQ-5D-3L index values based on the time trade-off (TTO) were available for all EUR5 countries (n = 21,425): France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK). Country-specific data sets were aggregated and weighted to facilitate the derivation of norms for gender and age groups. Analyses included equal weighting and weighting by population and economy size. Norms were also calculated using the European visual analog scale-based value set (European VAS), the EQ VAS and separately by dimension.

Pooled mean (SD) population weighted TTO values for males/females were 0.967 (0.122)/0.959 (0.118) for ages 18-24; 0.965 (0.096)/0.954 (0.117) for ages 25-34; 0.943 (0.165)/0.936 (0.169) for ages 35-44; 0.934 (0.150)/0.921 (0.157) for ages 45-54; 0.896 (0.188)/0.875 (0.197) for ages 55-64; 0.900 (0.158)/0.839 (0.218) for ages 65-74; and 0.830 (0.234)/0.756 (0.291) for ages 75 and older. Mean values decreased and variance increased with age; females had slightly lower mean values than males across all age bands. The unequal weighting approaches produced similar point estimates with smaller variances. Mean values for the European VAS were slightly lower than those for the TTO-based index.

Normative EQ-5D-3L values can be used to benchmark the outcomes of treated patients against the health of the general population. EUR5 norms may be useful in research applications inferring to Europe or the European Union as a whole, particularly when sample size precludes analysis at the country level.