Estimating a social value set for EQ-5D-5L in Sweden

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Psychometrics
• Social Sciences

Background:

• The EQ-5D-5L is a widely used instrument for measuring health status.
• Developing a country-specific value set is crucial for accurate health utility estimation.
• Sweden previously lacked a social value set derived from the composite time trade-off (c-TTO) method for the EQ-5D-5L.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elicit a social value set for the EQ-5D-5L in Sweden using the EQ-Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VT) protocol.
• To provide a tool for health utility estimation in economic evaluations for healthcare decision-making in Sweden.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 785 participants from the Swedish general population using quota sampling.
• Conducted interviews using the EQ-VT 2.1 protocol, employing composite time trade-off (c-TTO) and discrete choice experiments (DCE).
• Applied and compared various statistical models (e.g., heteroskedastic, Tobit, conditional logit, hybrid) for data analysis, selecting the best based on theoretical fit, parameter consistency, and predictive accuracy.

Main Results:

• The heteroskedastic model, utilizing c-TTO data, was selected as the preferred model for the value set.
• Health utilities derived from this model range from -0.31 (worst health state: 55555) to 1 (best health state: 11111).

Conclusions:

• This study presents the first c-TTO-based social value set for the EQ-5D-5L specifically for Sweden.
• The developed value set is suitable for supporting health utility estimations in economic evaluations.
• This resource will aid reimbursement decision-making processes within the Swedish healthcare system.