OBJECTIVES: To evaluate country-specific health utilities at different stages of RMS

METHODS: In two studies OPERA I & II 1’656 RMS patients were randomized to treatment with ocrelizumab 600mg or interferon β-1a 44ug. Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores and EuroQol five dimensions questionnaire (EQ5D) were both assessed at baseline, 48 and 96 weeks. In a previous study the relationship between EDSS and EQ5D was investigated through a repeated measures linear model that regressed health utilities on EDSS states, sex, age, relapse within 30 days prior to assessment and region of the world. This analysis provides additional utilities derived from the Australian, Canadian, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese and Swedish value sets.

RESULTS: Health utilities were consistently found to be inversely associated with EDSS state: the higher the EDSS state, the lower the utility score. Utilities were further associated with relapse, sex, age and region of the world. Relapse had a disutility between 0.04 (95%CI:0.02-0.06) in the Swedish and 0.10 (95%CI: 0.03-0.12) in the Portuguese analyses; males had higher utilities (on average between 0.02-0.03); average disutility for a 10 year increase in age was between 0.01-0.02; USA patients had between 0.02 (95%CI:0.01-0.03) and 0.05 lower (95%CI: 0.04-0.07) utilities as compared to patients from other regions of the world, when using Swedish and British value sets, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of generic quality of health measures, country specific health utilities in RMS can be derived based on EDSS state, relapse, gender, age and region of the world.