Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 9;4(1):92.
doi: 10.1186/s41687-020-00247-0.

Quality of life among patients seeking treatment for substance use disorder, as measured with the EQ-5D-3L

Kim Rand  1 , Espen Ajo Arnevik  2 , Espen Walderhaug  2
Affiliations

Quality of life among patients seeking treatment for substance use disorder, as measured with the EQ-5D-3L

Kim Rand et al. J Patient Rep Outcomes. .

Abstract

Purpose: There is a need to assess the quality of treatment for Substance Use Disorder (SUD), and document SUD patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The study aims to describe Norwegian SUD patients' HRQoL as measured by EQ-5D, compared to a general population sample, and discuss the potential usefulness of the EQ-5D to monitor HRQoL for SUD patients.

Methods: One hundred seventy eight SUD patients (66.3% male) were administered the EQ-5D-3L at treatment start. Patients and general population samples were compared in terms of reported EQ-5D-3L health states, problems by dimension, UK index values, and EQ VAS scores. We investigated specific drug dependence, mental health disorders, sex, age, and education as predictors of EQ-5D-3L values and EQ VAS scores. Anxiety/depression dimension scores were compared to Hopkins symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) scores.

Results: 91.6% of the patient sample reported problems on the EQ-5D-3L, with 29.8% reporting extreme problem, compared to 39.8% and 3.0% in the general population sample. Mean index (EQ VAS) score among SUD patients was .59 (59.9) compared to .90 (84.1) in the general population. Regression analyses identified phobic anxiety and cocaine dependence as statistically significant predictors of higher EQ-5D-3L index scores.

Conclusion: SUD patients report substantially reduced HRQoL, as measured using the EQ-5D-3L. The most frequently reported problems were for the anxiety/depression, pain/discomfort, and usual activities dimensions. The EQ-5D may be a useful and practical instrument for monitoring HRQoL in SUD patients.

Keywords: Drug addiction; EQ-5D; HRQoL; SUD; Substance use disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

KR is a member of the EuroQol Group, a not-for-profit research foundation which develops, owns, and licenses the EQ-5D. The EuroQol Group has no involvement with the study beyond funding. No other competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Density plots for SUD patients (red) and general population respondents (blue), separately for (a) EQ-5D-3L index scores, and (b) EQ VAS scores
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Observed self-reported EQ-5D-3L index scores (UK value set) over corresponding HSCL-25 total scores in the SUD population. Circle area proportional to number of participants assigning particular combination. Circle colors represent self-rating on the Anxiety/Depression dimension of the EQ-5D-3L: green, no problems; blue, moderate problems; red, extreme problems
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health . Drug misuse:-psychosocial interventions (NICE clinical guidelines CG51) London: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence; 2007. - PubMed
    1. Schaub MP, Uchtenhagen A. Building a European consensus on minimum quality standards for drug treatment, rehabilitation and harm reduction. European Addiction Research. 2013;19(6):314–324. doi: 10.1159/000350740. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Whoqol Group Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychological Medicine. 1998;28(3):551–558. doi: 10.1017/S0033291798006667. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Devlin NJ, Brooks R. Applied health economics and health policy. 2017. EQ-5D and the EuroQol group: Past, present and future; pp. 1–11. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Walderhaug, E., Seim-Wikse, K. J., Enger, A., & Milin, O. (2019). Polydrug use – Prevalence and registration. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. 10.4045/tidsskr.19.0251. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources