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. 2020 Sep 15;10(9):e035722.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035722.

EQ-5D-5L and SF-6Dv2 utility scores in people living with chronic low back pain: a survey from Quebec

Thomas G Poder  1   2 , Liang Wang  3 , Nathalie Carrier  4
Affiliations

EQ-5D-5L and SF-6Dv2 utility scores in people living with chronic low back pain: a survey from Quebec

Thomas G Poder et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: To describe how chronic low back pain (CLBP) impacts on utility scores and which patients' characteristics most affect these scores in the province of Quebec.

Settings: Province of Quebec, Canada.

Participants: 569 adult patients with CLBP.

Methods and outcomes: An online survey on low back pain was conducted between October 2018 and January 2019. The EuroQol Five Dimensions (EQ-5D-5L) and the Short Form Six Dimensions version 2 (SF-6Dv2) are two generic preference-based measures used to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and provide quality-adjusted life-year utility values.

Results: The number of subjects who agreed to participate was 610, but 41 were excluded because 8 had low back pain for less than 3 months and 33 did not start the survey. A total of 569 subjects were analysed, but only 410 completed the survey up to the EQ-5D-5L or SF-6Dv2 sections. Median (range) of EQ-5D-5L was 0.622 (-0.072 to 0.905), and mean (range) of SF-6Dv2 and EQ-Visual Analogue Scale was 0.561 (0.301-0.829) and 51.0 (0-100), respectively. In all multivariate models, health or life satisfaction increased the health utility score, while pain reduced it. Co-occurring health problems were present for a majority (68%) of participants, mainly fatigue/insomnia (57.4%), musculoskeletal disorder (56.2%) and mental disorder (44%).

Conclusion: This study provided utility scores with EQ-5D-5L and SF-6Dv2 in patients with CLBP in Quebec, and results were similar to other studies conducted in different settings. These values were well below those reported in the Quebec general population and highlight the association between CLBP and HRQoL.

Keywords: back pain; health economics; pain management.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of utility scores and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for EuroQol Five Dimensions (EQ-5D-5L) and Short Form Six Dimensions version 2 (SF-6Dv2). The values on the x-axis correspond to the central value with an interval of 0.05 for EQ-5D-5L score, 5 points for EQ-VAS and 0.02 point for SF-6Dv2. There was no ceiling effect for EQ-5D-5L and SF-6Dv2. Only one subject had a score of 100 for EQ-VAS. There was no floor effect for EQ-5D-5L, four subjects for EQ-VAS and two for SF-6Dv2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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