"Pain, depression, osteoarthritis and anxiety/nerves are associated with the greatest losses of health-related quality of life in the UK population."

Eur J Health Econ. 2014 Jan 10. [Epub ahead of print]

Examining the impact of 11 long-standing health conditions on health-related quality of life using the EQ-5D in a general population sample.

Wu M, Brazier JE, Kearns B, Relton C, Smith C, Cooper CL.

Author information

• Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, Innovation Park, Jubilee Campus, Triumph Road, Nottingham, NG7 2TU, UK, Mengjun.Wu@nottingham.ac.uk.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures have been increasingly used in economic evaluations for policy guidance. We investigate the impact of 11 self-reported long-standing health conditions on HRQoL using the EQ-5D in a UK sample.

METHODS:

We used data from 13,955 patients in the South Yorkshire Cohort study collected between 2010 and 2012 containing the EQ-5D, a preference-based measure. Ordinary least squares (OLS), Tobit and two-part regression analyses were undertaken to estimate the impact of 11 long-standing health conditions on HRQoL at the individual level.

RESULTS:

The results varied significantly with the regression models employed. In the OLS and Tobit models, pain had the largest negative impact on HRQoL, followed by depression, osteoarthritis and anxiety/nerves, after controlling for all other conditions and sociodemographic characteristics. The magnitude of coefficients was higher in the Tobit model than in the OLS model. In the two-part model, these four long-standing health conditions were statistically significant, but the magnitude of coefficients decreased significantly compared to that in the OLS and Tobit models and was ranked from pain followed by depression, anxiety/nerves and osteoarthritis.

CONCLUSIONS:

Pain, depression, osteoarthritis and anxiety/nerves are associated with the greatest losses of HRQoL in the UK population. The estimates presented in this article should be used to inform economic evaluations when assessing health care interventions, though improvements can be made in terms of diagnostic information and obtaining longitudinal data.