OBJECTIVES: To date, a value set for the EQ-5D-5L based on the health state preferences of the general Taiwanese population has not been available. This study aimed to develop a Taiwanese value set for EQ-5D-5L to facilitate health technology assessment for medical products and services.

METHODS: An international standardized protocol for EQ-5D-5L valuation studies developed by the EuroQol group was adopted. Adult members of the general public were recruited from six geographic regions in Taiwan. In computer-assisted face-to-face interviews, each participant completed 10 composite time trade-off (C-TTO) tasks and 7 discrete choice experiment (DCE) tasks. The C-TTO and DCE data were modeled alone or in combination (using hybrid models) with additive models containing twenty dummy variables as main effects. The models were assessed in terms of both quantitative and qualitative model performance (mainly logical consistency and goodness of fit).

RESULTS: Of 1,073 participants recruited, 1,000 completed the study. Approximately 13% of observed utility values were -1 in C-TTO tasks. The best preferred model was the hybrid model assuming left-censoring of the C-TTO at -1. Accordingly, the predicted values ranged from -1.026 to 1.

CONCLUSIONS: An EQ-5D-5L value set was developed for Taiwan using an established study protocol. It can facilitate health economic evaluations and decision making on resource allocation under Taiwan’s national health insurance program in the future.