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A Comparison of Healthy Days and EuroQol EQ-5D Measures in Two US Adult Samples

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Abstract

Background

Measures of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) have been used to assess the health of populations. This study examined the comparability of two HRQOL measures, the Healthy Days and the EuroQol EQ-5D, in the general US adult population.

Method

Data were from the 2000–2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Using a descriptive and ecological design, we compared variations in mean unhealthy days (UD) and EQ-5D scores by sociodemographic and health characteristics, and compared the effect of these variables on both measures using multivariate linear regressions.

Results

Both UD and EQ-5D scores showed worse health for females than males, for blacks and Hispanics than whites, for those with lower educational attainment, for both underweight and overweight people, and for those with worse self-rated health, higher severity of activity limitation, and the presence of any disease. Both measures also had similar effect sizes for these selected variables.

Conclusions

The UD and EQ-5D scores revealed a similar pattern according to sociodemographic variables and clinical factors. This study supports the validity of both sets of measures in assessing the health of adult populations.

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Correspondence to Haomiao Jia.

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The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Jia, H., Lubetkin, E.I., Moriarty, D.G. et al. A Comparison of Healthy Days and EuroQol EQ-5D Measures in Two US Adult Samples. Applied Research Quality Life 2, 209–221 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-008-9039-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-008-9039-5

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