title: Taiwanese version of the EQ-5D: validation in a representative sample of the Taiwanese population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We know of no validated Taiwanese-language instrument to measure a utility of the patient's health. Our aim was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a Taiwanese version of the EuroQol instrument (EQ-5D) in a Taiwanese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaires containing the Taiwanese versions of the EQ-5D and the Short-Form 12 Health Survey (SF-12) were sent to 12,923 people in Taiwan in December 2002. Concurrent validity of the EQ-5D was analyzed by assuming that subjects with problems in any EQ-5D dimensions had decreased SF-12 scores. Discriminant validity of the EQ-5D was analyzed by assuming that subjects with the following characteristics had lowered EQ-5D indexes and scores on the EQ-5D visual analog scale (VAS): more chronic diseases than others, serious illness, more hospitalizations in the past year than others, poor general health, and more outpatient visits than others. Test-retest reliability was analyzed in a subgroup of respondents who were evaluated twice within a month by using the intraclass correlation coefficient and the kappa method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The general survey response rate was 12.7% (1644 of 12,923). SF-12 scores were lower in subjects reporting problems on EQ-5D dimensions than in others without such problems (p < 0.01). Subjects with more health problems than others had lower EQ-5D indexes and VAS scores (p < 0.01). The physical dimension of the EQ-5D was more strongly correlated with the SF-12 Physical Component Summary than with the Mental Component Summary; this finding satisfied the a priori hypothesis. For test-retest reliability of items on the EQ-5D, kappa values ranged from 0.49 to 1 (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Taiwanese EQ-5D instrument appears to be a moderately valid and reliable tool for measuring the health status of the general population in Taiwan.
authors.affiliation: Medical Equipment Review Committee, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ting-Jung
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yen-Huei
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tarn
authors.forename: Ching-Lin
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Wen-Shyong
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Liou
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Xue Grace
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Chiou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan