The psychometric properties of the amharic version of EuroQoL five-dimensions-five level among Ethiopian cervical cancer patients

Despite being a widely used generic measure of health-related quality of life worldwide, there is limited evidence on the psychometric properties of the EuroQoL Five-dimensions five level (EQ-5D) among cervical cancer patients in Ethiopia.

To evaluate psychometric properties of the Amharic version of EQ-5D among Ethiopian cervical cancer patients.

A longitudinal survey of cervical cancer patients receiving treatment at two Ethiopian tertiary care facilities was conducted from March 2022 to July 2023. Participants completed the EQ-5D and the European Organization for Research and Therapy of Cancer (EORTC QLQ-C30) at baseline and after three months on treatment. Effect size and standardized response mean were used to assess responsiveness. Anchor-based and distribution-based methods were used to calculate the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Minimal detectable change (MDC) ratios were computed at the individual and group levels. Statistical significance was determined at p < 0.05.

Three hundred seventy-one patients completed the survey at baseline and follow-up with a mean age of 49.72 (10.80) years. The majority (268,73%) of the patients had early-stage cancer. The EQ-5D index and EQ VAS scores respectively improved by 0.04 and 7.0 post-treatment.The physical domains of EORTC QLQ-C30 had showed high correlation with physical dimensions of EQ-5D (r > 0.6) and the instrument showed good discriminate validity between patients with different health states. The effect size ranged between − 0.12 and 0.60 for the EQ-5D index value and − 0.12 to 1.16 for the EQ VAS, indicating small to large responsiveness. The average (range) MCID value of the EQ-5D index was 0.10–0.15. The findings showed that MCID to MDC ratios at the group level were more clinically meaningful than the individual level.

The EQ-5D effectively detected changes and discriminate patients with different levels of health. While group-level MCIDs were established in this study, further studies are recommended to prove its usefulness at the individual-level.