A United Kingdom Value Set for the EQ-5D-5L

A UK EQ-5D-5L value set is urgently required to enable the latest version of EQ-5D to inform policy, including evidence submitted to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as part of health technology appraisals. This paper presents the EQ-5D-5L UK value set generated from preference data elicited using the time trade-off (TTO) technique with a representative sample of the UK public.

In-person and videoconference interviews were undertaken using the composite TTO method for 102 health states with a representative sample of UK adults (age 18 years and older) across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Data quality was rigorously and independently assessed throughout the study. TTO data was modeled using a range of models, with the value set being selected as the preferred model using predefined criteria.

Data quality standards were achieved. A total of 1200 interviews were conducted, 1102 (91.8%) by means of videoconference and 98 (8.2%) in person. The sample was representative of age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic groups and proportionally representative for the 4 nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. TTO values highlighted by participants as ones they would reconsider were excluded. The value set was generated using a random effects Tobit model. The dimensions of anxiety/depression and usual activities have a greater relative impact on utilities than in the UK EQ-5D-3L value set, though the worst state value is comparable.

The study collected good-quality data from a representative sample of the UK public, modeled the data appropriately and transparently, to generate a UK EQ-5D-5L value set suitable for informing policy.