Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Technology Assessment, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2020 Dec 12;18(1):386. doi: 10.1186/s12955-020-01638-z.
Examine whether the use of different ages has an impact on the valuation of EQ-5D-Y health states for a hypothetical child or adolescent.
A survey was administered during regular classes among a convenience sample of university students in the Netherlands. Respondents first valued 6 EQ-5D-Y health states (2 mild, 2 moderate, 2 severe) describing a hypothetical child/adolescent of a certain age on a visual analogue scale (VAS). After 1 h respondents valued the same six health states again but this time the age of the child was different. Age differed between 4, 10 and 16 year old.
Number of respondents was 311. No significant differences in valuation of the six health states were found between the age of 10 and 16. One moderate health state was valued significantly better for a 4-year old compared to a 10 and a 16 year old. The same applied for one severe health state that was valued higher for a 4-year old compared to a 16-year old.
Our study shows that, except for one moderate and one severe health state, other EQ-5D-Y health states were not valued significantly different when description of age differed. It is possible that problems in specific health domains are considered more severe for older children/adolescents compared to younger children who might still be dependent on their caregivers. Future research should examine whether our findings are also present in a broader set of EQ-5D-Y health states, with a choice-based method like TTO or DCE, and a more heterogeneous sample.
研究不同年龄对假设儿童或青少年的 EQ-5D-Y 健康状态评估是否有影响。
在荷兰，通过便利抽样对大学生进行常规课堂调查。被调查者首先使用视觉模拟量表（VAS）对描述特定年龄假设儿童/青少年的 6 个 EQ-5D-Y 健康状态（2 个轻度、2 个中度、2 个重度）进行赋值。1 小时后，被调查者再次对这 6 个相同的健康状态进行赋值，但这次儿童的年龄不同。年龄分别为 4 岁、10 岁和 16 岁。
共 311 名被调查者。在 10 岁和 16 岁之间，对这 6 个健康状态的评估没有发现显著差异。与 10 岁和 16 岁相比，4 岁的被调查者对一个中度健康状态的评估明显更好。同样，一个重度健康状态在 4 岁时的评分也高于 16 岁。
我们的研究表明，除了一个中度和一个重度健康状态外，当描述年龄不同时，其他 EQ-5D-Y 健康状态的评估没有显著差异。对于年龄较大的儿童/青少年来说，特定健康领域的问题可能被认为更严重，而年龄较小的儿童可能仍然依赖他们的照顾者。未来的研究应该用 TTO 或 DCE 等基于选择的方法，以及更具异质性的样本，来检验我们的发现是否也存在于更广泛的 EQ-5D-Y 健康状态中。
