Psychometric performance of proxy-reported EQ-5D youth version 5-level (EQ-5D-Y-5L) in comparison with three-level (EQ-5D-Y-3L) in children and adolescents with scoliosis

Every year, the Italian Scoliosis Study Group selects the best published papers on conservative spine treatment from the global scientific literature.
Here is the abstract from one of these papers. 

Psychometric performance of proxy-reported EQ-5D youth version 5-level (EQ-5D-Y-5L) in comparison

with three-level (EQ-5D-Y-3L) in children and adolescents with scoliosis

Jiaer Lin, Carlos King Ho Wong, Jason Pui Yin Cheung, Prudence Wing Hang Cheung, Nan Luo 

Eur J Health Econ. 2022 Feb 4. PMID: 35122171 DOI: 10.1007/s10198-022-01435-z

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the psychometric performance of proxy-reported EQ-5D-Y-5L (Y-5L) in comparisons with EQ-5D-Y-3L (Y-3L) administered by caregivers of patients with juvenile (JIS) or adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Methods: A consecutive sample of caregivers of JIS or AIS patients were recruited. Redistribution property, ceiling effects, and discriminative power were examined. Known-group validity was determined by examining their ability to detect differences across clinical known groups. Test-retest reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for EQ-VAS score and Gwet’s agreement coefficient (GAC) and percentage agreement (PA) for dimension responses. Furthermore, subgroups were analyzed for comparing test-retest reliability.

Results: A total of 130 caregivers were involved in the study. Consistencies between proxy-reported Y-3L and Y-5L were very high for all dimensions (93.8-99.2%). The ceiling effect in the Y-5L was slightly reduced in four dimensions (AR: 0.8-2.3%) whereas increased in “Having pain/discomfort”. Greater informativity was found in the Y-5L than the Y-3L. In known-group comparisons of curvature magnitude, curvature type, and treatment modality, Y-5L and Y-3L dimension scales showed hypothesized results. For example, more full-health responses were found in the mild Cobb angle group (Y-5L: 63.1%; Y-3L: 62.2%) than the severe Cobb angle group (Y-5L: 55.6%, Y-3L: 55.6%). EQ-VAS score exhibited low test-retest reliability (ICC: 0.41), whereas dimension scales of both instruments showed satisfactory test-retest reliability (GAC ≥ 0.7 and PA ≥ 70% for all). In most known groups, hard-to-observe dimensions were more reliable for proxy-reported Y-5L than Y-3L.

Conclusion: Both the proxy-reported Y-5L and Y-3L are valid and reliable instruments for assessing the HRQoL of JIS or AIS patients.

Keywords: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis; EQ-5D-Y-3L; EQ-5D-Y-5L; Proxy; Psychometric performance.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35122171/