ADVERTISEMENT
Skin Irritation and Self-confidence Bolt-ons Improve EQ-5D in Patients With Psoriasis
The skin irritation and self-confidence bolt-ons improve EQ-5D-5L content validity in patients with psoriasis, according to a recent qualitative study published in Quality of Life Research.
Researchers aimed to investigate and compare the content relevance and comprehensiveness of the commonly used health-related quality of life measure, EQ-5D, that included 2 psoriasis-specific bolt-ons. The EQ-5D included psoriasis-specific bolt-ons in patients with psoriasis and explored the potential conceptual overlaps between the existing EQ-5D and the bolt-ons in a qualitative investigation. Psoriasis-specific bolt-ons were developed for the 5-level EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L) and included 1 physical and 1 mental. Patients were sampled according to age and gender and asked to complete the EQ-5D-5L and bolt-ons while thinking aloud. Data were captured via probes on the patients’ thought process over dimensions, wording, recall period, and relevant concepts.
A total of 16 patients completed the interviews. Patients considered skin irritation, self-confidence, and itching as a form of discomfort were relevant areas to describe psoriasis problems. Some patients reported concepts that the EQ-5D-5L does not capture, including itching, social relationships, and sex life. Patients also pointed out that the recall period of the EQ-5D-5L could be biased because of daily symptom fluctuations.
“The skin irritation and self-confidence bolt-ons contribute to improve content validity of the EQ-5D-5L in patients with psoriasis,” concluded the study authors. “The qualitative approach taken in this study expands the existing methodological framework for the development and testing validity of bolt-ons for the EQ-5D,” they added.
Reference
Rencz F, Mukuria C, Bató A, Poór AK, Finch AP. A qualitative investigation of the relevance of skin irritation and self-confidence bolt-ons and their conceptual overlap with the EQ-5D in patients with psoriasis. Qual Life Res. Published online: April 26, 2022. doi:10.1007/s11136-022-03141-y.