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Authors: Hazell, Michelle L¹; Morris, Julie A²; Linehan, Mary F¹; Frank, Timothy L¹

Source: British Journal of General Practice, Volume 59, Number 568, November 2009 , pp. 839-843(5)

Abstract:

Background

In order to assess and plan for changing healthcare needs, the lack of available information regarding temporal changes in the health-related quality of life of a population must be addressed.

Aim

This paper aims to describe such changes over 5 years in a general population.

Design of study

Longitudinal postal questionnaire study.

Setting

UK general practice.

Method

This was a longitudinal postal questionnaire study in two general practice populations, using the generic instrument EQ-5D to measure health-related quality of life. Individuals were included if they responded to three postal surveys in 1999, 2001, and 2004 and there were three consecutive values of EQ-5D_index available between 1999 and 2004.

Results

A total of 2498 subjects were included in the study. After adjustment for potential confounders (including ageing), health-related quality of life declined significantly over the observation period. The change in EQ-5D_index was from 0.79 to 0.74 and for EQ-5D_vas 76.8 to 73.3 (P for both trends <0.001).

Conclusion

Health-related quality of life deteriorated in these populations over 5 years. In an era of improvements in mortality, this has important implications for the use of health-related quality of life data in healthcare planning and resource allocation.

Keywords: chronic disease; EQ-5D; health related quality of life; temporal trend

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.3399/bjgp09X472890

Affiliations: 1: University of Manchester, Respiratory Research Group, School of Translational Medicine and NIHR, Translational Research Facility, Respiratory Medicine, Manchester 2: Department of Medical Statistics, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester

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