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Variation in Chinese population health related quality of life: Results from a EuroQol study in Beijing, China

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to measure Chinese population health related quality of life (HRQoL) using European quality of life (EQ-5D) instrument, to examine the validity of EQ-5D in measuring Chinese population HRQoL, to explore the relationships between EQ-5D and other health determinants, and to display the similarities and differences of HRQoL between the Chinese population and the populations of other countries. The data used in this study includes 2994 respondents whose age are 12 years and older, which is from the 2000 Beijing Household Health Survey. Univariate and bivariate analyses have been used to examine the level of HRQoL and the relationships between HRQoL and other variables. Multi-variate analyses have been used to explore the relationships between the EQ-5D Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the EQ-5D five dimension indicators. There are four principal findings from this study. First, the EQ-5D instrument is a valid measure for Chinese HRQoL, but with a significant ceiling effect. Second, Pain/Discomfort and Anxiety/Depression are the major Chinese HRQoL problems and the extents of these problems differ in subgroup populations. Third, typically mean scores are lower for older age group; this is observed at lower ages in the Chinese population than in populations from developed countries. Fourth, Chinese HRQoL has strong association relationship with population socio-economic status (SES), which might imply that issues brought on by the rapid economic transition have both positive and negative impacts on Chinese HRQoL.

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Abbreviations

EQ-5D:

European quality of life

EVGFP:

Excellent, Very good, Good, Fair, and Poor 5-Point Categorical Rating Scale

GDP:

Gross Domestic Product

HRQoL:

health related quality of life

HUI:

Health Utilities Indexes

MHIQ:

The McMaster Health Index Questionnaire

NHP:

The Nottingham Health Profile

OLS:

Ordinary Least Square

QoL:

Quality of Life

QWB:

Quality of Well-Being Scale

SES:

Socio-Economic Status

SF-36:

Short Form of the Medical Outcomes Study Questionnaire

VAS:

Visual Analogue Scale

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Health Division, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Hong Wang

  2. Department of Population Health Science, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, WI, USA

    David A. Kindig & John Mullahy

Authors
  1. Hong Wang
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  2. David A. Kindig
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  3. John Mullahy
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Correspondence to Hong Wang.

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Wang, H., Kindig, D.A. & Mullahy, J. Variation in Chinese population health related quality of life: Results from a EuroQol study in Beijing, China. Qual Life Res 14, 119–132 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-004-0612-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-004-0612-6

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