Valuing Health States: An EQ-5D-5L Value Set for Uzbekistan

Developing countries, such as Uzbekistan, are becoming more interested in health technology assessments and economic evaluations. For the purpose of supporting cost-utility assessments, this study set out to develop an EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) value set based on the preferences of the adult general population in Uzbekistan.

In 2024, respondents from 5 regions in Uzbekistan were recruited based on two-stage quota sampling strategy to obtain a representative sample for age, gender and region. Using the EuroQol valuation protocol and standard quality control procedures, trained interviewers assisted participants in completing discrete choice experiment and composite time-trade-off tasks. Data were analyzed using heteroscedastic Tobit, conditional logit, and hybrid heteroscedastic Tobit models.

Overall, 1007 respondents from Uzbekistan were interviewed. With the chosen final value set (hybrid heteroscedastic Tobit), the estimated value for the worst health state (55555) was -0.740. Mobility (0.530) and pain/discomfort (0.377) showed the greatest disutility at their most severe levels, followed by self-care (0.353), anxiety/depression (0.258), and usual activities (0.222). The highest estimated value for an impaired health state was 0.955 for the 21111.

The study estimated EQ-5D-5L value set following a standardized protocol for Uzbekistan. To our knowledge, this is the first EQ-5D-5L value set for any Central Asian country. The value set will enable economic evaluations to reflect local preferences, inform health policy decisions and advance health outcomes research in Uzbekistan.