New EQ-5D-5L valuation study for England to be undertaken by EuroQol in collaboration with NICE and the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England

October 24, 2019

NICE has announced on their website today their decision to support the development of a new EQ-5D-5L valuation study for England. The new study will be funded and managed by the EuroQol Group, with ongoing advisory input from NICE, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. Academic experts, including members of the original England valuation study research team, will be consulted on the new study. The study will be run in accordance with an international standard EuroQol valuation study protocol (EQ-VT).

The decision to undertake this new valuation study is in response to findings from independent expert reviews of the existing EQ-5D-5L valuation study for England. The reviewers had significant concerns about the original study. The existing EQ-5D-5L value set for England was one of the first to be developed around the world. The study’s methodology was state of the art at that time; however, since then, improvements have been made to the valuation study protocol. Given the findings from the independent reviewers, NICE does not recommend the use of the existing EQ-5D-5L value set for England.

In the interim, the current situation in England regarding the use of the EQ-5D-5L for companies, academic groups, and others preparing evidence submissions for NICE remains the same. In their position statement, NICE continues to recommend that:

Data collected using either the EQ-5D-5L or the EQ-5D-3L descriptive system may be used for reference-case analyses.
Prospective clinical studies should continue to use the EQ-5D-5L descriptive system to collect data on quality of life.
If the EQ-5D-5L descriptive system is used for analyses, scoring should be undertaken using the mapping algorithm published by Van Hout et al (2012).

Importantly, the EuroQol Group would like to emphasize that this matter relates only to the EQ-5D-5L value set for England.

The EuroQol Group is committed to supporting scientific endeavours that further the measurement and valuation of health and advance the use of measures like the EQ-5D-5L to benefit patients and inform decision makers. For further information please do not hesitate to contact us.