Abstract
PurposeThere is a need to assess the quality of treatment for Substance Use Disorder (SUD), and document SUD patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The study aims to describe Norwegian SUD patients’ HRQoL as measured by EQ-5D, compared to a general population sample, and discuss the potential usefulness of the EQ-5D to monitor HRQoL for SUD patients.MethodsOne hundred seventy eight SUD patients (66.3% male) were administered the EQ-5D-3L at treatment start. Patients and general population samples were compared in terms of reported EQ-5D-3L health states, problems by dimension, UK index values, and EQ VAS scores. We investigated specific drug dependence, mental health disorders, sex, age, and education as predictors of EQ-5D-3L values and EQ VAS scores. Anxiety/depression dimension scores were compared to Hopkins symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) scores.Results91.6% of the patient sample reported problems on the EQ-5D-3L, with 29.8% reporting extreme problem, compared to 39.8% and 3.0% in the general population sample. Mean index (EQ VAS) score among SUD patients was .59 (59.9) compared to .90 (84.1) in the general population. Regression analyses identified phobic anxiety and cocaine dependence as statistically significant predictors of higher EQ-5D-3L index scores.ConclusionSUD patients report substantially reduced HRQoL, as measured using the EQ-5D-3L. The most frequently reported problems were for the anxiety/depression, pain/discomfort, and usual activities dimensions. The EQ-5D may be a useful and practical instrument for monitoring HRQoL in SUD patients.
Highlights
There is a demand for evidence based treatments and heightened standards in Norway and internationally
Further information regarding the study from which the general population sample derives can be found in [6]
For comparison to the mean EQ-5D-3L score found in this study, Saarni et al [17] reported mean Quality of Life (QoL)/health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores based on a sample of Finnish people with various mental health problems, using the EQ-5D-3L and the UK value set, including schizophrenia (.715), schizoaffective disorder (.681), major depression with psychotic features (.707), and other psychotic disorders (.639)
Summary
There is a demand for evidence based treatments and heightened standards in Norway and internationally. National guidelines and standards are developed and implemented [1]), but empirical evidence on effect and cost-effectiveness of treatment remains scarce. Parallel to measuring implementation success there is a need for assessment of treatment quality and costeffectiveness. The general concept of quality of life was initially considered a useful adjunct to traditional concepts of health and functional status. An ideal health assessment would include a measure of the person’s physical health, a measure of physical, social and psychological functioning, and a measure of quality of life [3]. Developed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQoL) to measure health benefit in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) in health-economic
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