Health status based on EQ-5D-5L for the cancer patient population in Malaysia

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Author: Wan Puteh S.E.; Razali H.; Ismail A.; Zulkifli M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Research 2024
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85189614367&doi=10.1038%2fs41598-024-58844-8&partnerID=40&md5=3f9e9b87a09e398b128eafa1f2de9aa8

The EQ-5D is a common generic tool used in clinical trials and economic evaluations to evaluate the health-related quality of life as a proxy of health outcomes. To date, studies using EQ-5D-5L to evaluate the health status of cancer patients remain scarce in Malaysia. In this study, EQ-5D-5L dimensions, EQ-5D-5L index, and EQ-VAS scores were applied to assess the health status of Malaysian cancer patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted March-December 2022 to collect data relevant to the EQ-5D-5L valuation of health status via the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) platform. Respondents rated their health states using EQ-5D-5L and EQ-VAS. Among the 235 respondents, the mean EQ-5D-5L index and EQ-VAS score were 0.76 (SD 0.223) and 81.06 (SD 16.36). Most of the patients reported some problems in the pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression dimensions. The level of education, stage of cancer, and comorbidity were significantly associated with better health status on EQ-5D-5L (p < 0.05) but only the stage of cancer was significantly associated with EQ-VAS scores. This study highlighted the disparities in self-reported health status across patients of different sociodemographic and medical profiles with EQ-5D-5L valuation. Thus, future research should use EQ-5D norm scores as a benchmark of comparison among cancer patients. © The Author(s) 2024.