OBJECTIVES: To assess the performance of the EQ-5D-5L in a naturalistic context targeted to patients with hepatic diseases. Preliminary investigations suggest that the new version of EQ-5D, with five levels (5L) of severity per domain, is promising to asses individuals’ QoL more appropriately than the standard version with 3 levels. However, further research is encouraged to investigate the EQ-5D-5L properties in different sub-populations and contexts.  METHODS: This study was conducted within a project aimed to estimate costs and QoL related to hepatic diseases. The participants self completed a questionnaire including the 5L descriptive system, the 3L standard descriptive system, and the VAS. The following properties were tested: feasibility (amount of missing answers); amount of inconsistent and consistent responses between 3L and 5L versions; convergent validity with the 3L version and VAS (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient); discriminatory power (informativity). RESULTS: Data from 426 patients were analysed: 69% male, 19-84 (median=57) years old. They were affected with: chronic hepatitis C (25.4%), chronic hepatitis B (22.5%), chronic hepatitis B and C (1.2%), cirrhosis (20.9%), liver transplantation (19.0%), hepatic carcinoma (4.5%), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (1.9%), and other less frequent hepatic diseases. With the standard version (3L) patients reported some or severe problems with mobility (24.2%), self-care (10.4%), usual activities (29.0%), pain/discomfort (35.5%), and anxiety/depression (37.4%). Median VAS was 70 (15-100). Missing answers were more frequent with the 3L version (6.6% versus 4.0% of patients). In total, 97.5% of responses were consistent. Convergent validity of 5L-VAS (from -0.35 to -0.57) was similar to the one of 3L-VAS (from -0.41 to -0.56). 3L-5L correlation coefficient ranged from 0.83 to 0.91. Informativity was similar between the two versions. CONCLUSIONS: The EQ-5D-5L version holds promise as a valid extension of the standard 3L version for the assessment of QoL of individuals with hepatic diseases.