Valuing EQ-5D-Y: the current state of play

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Psychometrics
• Quality of Life Research

Background:

• Child health-related quality of life (HRQoL) valuation faced challenges due to a lack of value sets for nearly a decade.
• A 2020 valuation protocol has led to the development of 11-17 EQ-5D-Y value sets by late 2022, more than any other child HRQoL measure.
• A review of early experiences using the protocol is timely to identify learnings and areas for further research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the experiences of EQ-5D-Y value set studies using the 2020 valuation protocol.
• To identify early learnings and remaining issues in valuing child HRQoL.
• To inform future research directions for refining EQ-5D-Y valuation methods.

Main Methods:

• A three-day EuroQol Group workshop in June 2021 brought together researchers involved in EQ-5D-Y value set studies.
• Discussions were captured through note-taking and session recordings, followed by a narrative synthesis.
• The synthesis identified points of agreement and areas of methodological uncertainty.

Main Results:

• Broad agreement exists that Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) is effective for valuation.
• Uncertainty remains regarding the optimal method for anchoring latent scale values from DCE.
• Some studies extended the number of health states in Time Trade-Off (TTO) tasks, deviating from the protocol to improve DCE and TTO modeling.

Conclusions:

• Priority research areas include testing alternative DCE anchoring methods and exploring adolescent preferences.
• Investigating scale differences between EQ-5D-Y and adult EQ-5D values is crucial for Health Technology Assessment (HTA).
• Engaging with HTA bodies and local users early is recommended for future value set studies, with findings applicable to both 3-level and 5-level EQ-5D-Y versions.