EuroQol Group to Report Key EQ-5D Advances

The EuroQol Group’s 27th Scientific Plenary will take place in mid-September. Researchers will report on several exciting developments in the EQ-5D, a measure of self-reported health widely used in research and in the NHS PROMs programme. Professor Nancy Devlin (OHE) and Professor Jan van Busschbach (Erasmus MC) are the joint Scientific Chairs.

The EQ-5D is a measure of self-reported health widely used in clinical trials, population health surveys and, more recently, in the NHS PROMs programme.  It was developed and continues to be improved by the EuroQol Group, a network of leading experts in health outcomes measurement and valuation from Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia.

This year, the EuroQol Group’s Scientific Plenary will report research on a number of exciting developments.  These include the new, expanded instrument, the EQ-5D-5L; a new version of the instrument designed for self-completion by younger children, the EQ-5D-Y; and the development of ‘bolt on’ dimensions.  This new suite of EQ-5D instruments has the potential to substantially improve the way health and quality of life are measured.

New methods for eliciting and modelling EQ-5D values also will be reported at the plenary.  EQ-5D ‘value sets’ are widely used to estimate QALYs in cost effectiveness analysis, making the development of improved methods highly relevant to health technology appraisal.

The 27^th annual Scientific Plenary is scheduled to take place in Athens, Greece, 16-18 September 2010. Professor Nancy Devlin (OHE) and Professor Jan van Busschbach (Erasmus MC) are the joint Scientific Chairs.  The annual Scientific Plenary, the main event in the EuroQol Group’s calendar, is a key opportunity for researchers across the globe to discuss scientific advances in the measurement and valuation of health.