OBJECTIVES

: To obtain social preference and establish an EQ-5D-5L value set from Ethiopian general population.

METHODS

: A population-based, interviewer-administered, face-to-face, cross-sectional survey of two elicitation techniques of the composite time trade-off(c-TTO), and discrete choice experiments (DCE) were applied to a sample of the Ethiopian population(n=1050) using an EuroQol Portable Valuation Technology (EQ-PVT). We pilot tested EQ-PVT in a sample of the population (n= 110) focused on understanding of the tasks. A multistage stratified quota sampling of geographic area, gender, age group, and religion was undertaken for full study. A hybrid regression model combining c-TTO and DCE data was used to estimate the value set.

RESULTS

: Feasibility of valuing the EQ-5D-5L using EQ-PVT in Ethiopia was demonstrated. Acceptability of the tasks was good and there were no special concerns with thinking and talking about death. However, a frequently reported problem was that respondents found health states difficult to imagine. Examples in the practice tasks were tailored to the context to help with this. Ten interviewers completed 1050 interviews between March and May 2018. The mean self-reported EQ-5D-5L VAS is 87.27 (SD=13.63). Health problems were reported mostly in the anxiety/depression dimension (43.29%) and least in the self-care dimension (6.57%). The predicted value for the EQ-5D-5L ranged from -0.7186 to 1. Censored heteroscedastic hybrid model of TTO and DCE data was used. The hybrid model was logically consistent and all dimensions except one parameter are statistically significant. Anxiety/depression dimension influenced utility estimates the most, shown by dis-utility level five of 0.4578, and self-care influenced the least with dis-utility of level five 0.2224. The maximum predicted value beyond full health was 0.9741 for the ‘11112’ state.

CONCLUSIONS

: This study established an Ethiopian value set for EQ-5D-5L. It is expected to facilitate health economic evaluation, health-related quality of life research and to inform decision making in Ethiopia.