Maria Cristina Matteucci

Assessing quality of life in children and adolescents: development and validation of the Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y

Background : Although assessment of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in paediatric populations is gaining interest, it is not sufficiently assessed. While a number of specific paediatric instruments have been developed, some users appear to prefer generic tools such as the EQ-5D, which is a widely used and recommended tool to describe and value health across many different adult populations. We adapted the EQ-5D generic instrument into the EQ-5D-Y(youth) for the assessment of HRQoL in children and adolescents, and investigated the feasibility, acceptability, validity and reliability of this new version of the tool. Methods : The Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y was administered to 415 children and adolescents from a general population aged between 8 and 15, and to 25 paediatric patients diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). Results : The Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y was found to be feasible and acceptable for self-completion in the target age-group, with less than 1% refusing to complete it and no invalid answers given. Convergent and divergent validity tested with a child specific standard instrument was satisfactory overall. The test-retest reliability was moderate to good in all the domains of the descriptive system, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) showed optimal levels of reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient = 0.82). As regards known-group validity, compared with the youths from general population, the ALL patients reported more difficulties in four of the five domains of the descriptive system and, on average, had a lower VAS score. Conclusions :The Italian version of the EQ-5D-Y shows to be a promising tool for assessing HRQoL in children and adolescents from 8 to 15 years of age. Future studies should further investigate and optimize its applicability to clinical research and carry out economic evaluations within the health system.

PIH14 DETECTION OF SEMANTIC AMBIGUITY IN THE ITALIAN CHILD-FRIENDLY EQ-5D VERSION

(0.018; 90%CI). The oneand two-period lagged PAT_AP (0.451 & 0.297; 99%CI) and LIFEXP65 (0.018; 99%CI) were highly significant and PHARM_R&D (0.166; 90%CI) was marginally significant. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to effects in HCE in previous studies there is an ageing effect (pull factor) causing rising EPD as well as for pharmaceutical innovations. Additionally, we found a push factor, namely R&D expenditures of pharmaceutical industry causing increasing EPD and innovations. Increasing doctors’ consultations lead to decreasing EPD maybe caused by successful application of lower medical therapies or by additional following non-medical therapies which are not affecting EPD.