Abstract
ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the health utility of leukemia patients in China using the EQ-5D-5L, compare it with the population norms, and identify the potential factors associated with health utility.MethodsA hospital based cross-sectional survey was conducted in three tertiary hospitals from July 2015 to February 2016. A total of 186 patients with leukemia completed the EQ-5D-5L and their health utility scores were calculated using the Chinese value set. EQ-5D-5L utility and dimensions scores of leukemia patients were compared with China’s population norms using Kruskal–Wallis test and chi square test. Potential factors associated with health utility were identified using Tobit regression.ResultsThe mean EQ-5D-5L utility scores of patients with leukemia, grouped by either gender or age, were significantly lower than those of the general population (p < 0.001). The same results were found for individual dimensions of EQ-5D-5L, where leukemia patients reported more health problems than the general population (p < 0.001). The utility score of leukemia patients was found to be significantly related to medical insurance, religious belief, comorbidities, social support and ECOG performance status.ConclusionThis study indicated that leukemia patients have worse health status compared to the general population of China and that multiple factors affect the health utility of the patients. The utility scores reported in this study could be useful in future cost-utility analysis.
Highlights
Leukemia is a malignant tumor that is common in both children and adults
Leukemia was estimated to be responsible for 309,006 deaths in 2018 and 437,033 new leukemia cases were diagnosed in the same year [1]
Basics of sample Of 208 eligible patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 22 patients refused to complete the survey with the following reasons: 10 patients felt ‘uncomfortable’, 8 patients ‘lacked interest’, and 4 patients did not ‘understand the informed consent’
Summary
Leukemia is a malignant tumor that is common in both children and adults. Leukemia was estimated to be responsible for 309,006 deaths in 2018 and 437,033 new leukemia cases were diagnosed in the same year [1]. (FACT-G) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukemia(FACT-Leu) are commonly used to measure the HRQoL of patients with leukemia [6,7,8,9,10]. While they are valid and reliable, they cannot be used to generate health utility value for leukemia patients because they are not preference-based instruments [11]. EQ-5D is currently one of the most widely used standardized multi-attribute utility instruments (MAUIs) [13] for cost-utility analysis (CUA) of healthcare [14] It is recommended by a number of bodies and guidelines including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK [15]
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