Musculoskeletal health and capability wellbeing: Associations between the HAQ-DI, ICECAP-A and ICECAP-O measures in a population survey

Abstract

BackgroundThe capability approach has received increasing attention in wellbeing measurement in the past years, but it has still remained an underexplored area in musculoskeletal (MSK) health. ObjectiveWe aimed to explore the capability wellbeing in relation to MSK health, by measuring the associations between the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) physical functioning and the ICECAP-A and ICECAP-O capability wellbeing measures. DesignA cross-sectional survey was performed in 2019 on a representative sample of the Hungarian general adult population. MethodCapability wellbeing was measured by the ICECAP-A (age-group 18–64) and ICECAP-O (age group 65+) questionnaires. MSK health was defined by the HAQ-DI, the mobility domain of the EQ-5D-3L/-5L health status measures, self-reported walking problems and MSK diagnosis (neck/back/low back defects, hip/knee arthrosis, osteoporosis). ResultsAltogether 2021 individuals (female: 50.1%) participated in the survey with mean (SD) age of 48.7 (17.9) years and HAQ-DI of 0.138 (0.390). ICECAP-A (N = 1568, 77.6%) and ICECAP-O (N = 453, 22.4%) scores were on average (SD) 0.894 (0.126) and 0.828 (0.150), respectively. Spearman correlations between the HAQ-DI and ICECAP-A/-O index scores were moderate (r = −0.303 and −0.496; p < 0.05). Both the ICECAP-A/-O index scores differed significantly (ANOVA test, p < 0.05) across all MSK subgroups. In the ordinary least square regressions, marginal effects of ICECAP-A/-O scores on HAQ-DI were significant (−0.149 and −0.123) when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. ConclusionsMSK health problems are associated with lower capability wellbeing. ICECAP-A/-O might capture effects of MSK conditions not measured by the HAQ-DI or the EQ-5D-5L. Further studies should test these associations in disease-specific samples.