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EQ-5D-5L (Five-Level EuroQol)

EQ-5D-5L
health sciencespsychologyLicensed — permission required

A generic preference-based measure of health-related quality of life across five dimensions: Mobility, Self-Care, Usual Activities, Pain/Discomfort, and Anxiety/Depression. Each dimension has five response levels. The descriptive system is accompanied by a visual analogue scale (EQ VAS) rating overall health today from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

Items
6
Response format
5-level response scale per item + 0–100 visual analogue scale
Version
1.0
Subscales
6

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Health-related quality of life was measured using the EQ-5D-5L (Herdman et al., 2011) under licence from the EuroQol Research Foundation. Participants rated five dimensions of health today and a 0–100 visual analogue scale. Descriptive profiles were converted to utility indices using the [country] value set.

Citing this in a methods section? This scale spans more than one discipline, so the style depends on where you publish — see the APA 7 or Vancouver guides, or compare all six citation styles.

Reliability & validation

notes
Internal-consistency α is not typically reported because the five dimensions are conceptually independent. Test-retest, construct validity, and responsiveness are the standard psychometric evidence.
Validation population
General population and patient samples across multiple countries

Subscales

MobilitySelf-CareUsual ActivitiesPain/DiscomfortAnxiety/DepressionEQ VAS (overall health today)

Known limitations

LICENSED — register at https://euroqol.org/ before administration. Scoring requires selecting and applying a country-specific value set (e.g., UK, US, Japan); report which value set was used. Do NOT sum the dimension levels as a raw score. The EQ VAS and the utility index are distinct outcomes and typically reported separately.

Original citation

Herdman, M., Gudex, C., Lloyd, A., Janssen, M., Kind, P., Parkin, D., Bonsel, G., Badia, X. (2011). Development and preliminary testing of the new five-level version of EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L). Quality of Life Research, 20(10), 1727-1736.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9903-x

This instrument is licensed. Folio does not distribute its item wording — obtain permission from the copyright holder before using it in your study.

Questions researchers ask

What does the EQ-5D-5L measure?

A generic preference-based measure of health-related quality of life across five dimensions: Mobility, Self-Care, Usual Activities, Pain/Discomfort, and Anxiety/Depression. Each dimension has five response levels. The descriptive system is accompanied by a visual analogue scale (EQ VAS) rating overall health today from…

How many items does the EQ-5D-5L have?

The EQ-5D-5L (Five-Level EuroQol) (EQ-5D-5L) has 6 items across 6 subscales: Mobility, Self-Care, Usual Activities, Pain/Discomfort, Anxiety/Depression, EQ VAS (overall health today).

Is the EQ-5D-5L free to use?

The EQ-5D-5L is licensed. You must obtain permission from the copyright holder before using it in a study — Folio does not distribute its item wording without that permission.

Who developed the EQ-5D-5L, and how do I cite it?

Herdman, M., Gudex, C., Lloyd, A., Janssen, M., Kind, P., Parkin, D., Bonsel, G., Badia, X. (2011). Development and preliminary testing of the new five-level version of EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L). Quality of Life Research, 20(10), 1727-1736. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9903-x

Permission required

Importing EQ-5D-5Linto a Surveyor study is disabled: Folio holds the instrument’s metadata, not a license to pass on its wording. The citation, scoring and reliability details on this page are free to use and cite.

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Library entry verified January 2024. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.