Comparison of EQ-5D VAS valuations: analysis of background variables

Preference-based instruments for measuring HRQoL of life have been developed in different countries and applied in empirical research in a much wider range of countries. A major concern in this context has been whether the valuations (values or utility weights) elicited for the instrument in 1 country are applicable in another, that is, whether the valuations in terms of the relative values/utilities of different health states are similar or not. If they are, an instrument that has been valued in country A can be applied in country B without having to carry out a very cumbersome and expensive process of eliciting the valuations in country B. However, if the valuations differ, the use of an instrument with valuations from country A in country B, for example in the evaluation of health interventions, may lead to different results and a different order of preference among the interventions from those should valuations from country B have been available.

Editors and Affiliations

1. Department of Economics, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Schotland, UK

   Richard Brooks

2. EuroQol Group Business Management, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

   Rosalind Rabin

3. Centre for Health Policy and Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

   Frank de Charro

Reprints and permissions

© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Policies and ethics