EQ-5D is a standardized instrument developed by the EuroQol Group as a measure of health-related quality of life that can be used in a wide range of health conditions and treatments. The EQ-5D consists of a descriptive system and the EQ VAS.

The descriptive system comprises five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The EQ VAS records the patient’s self-rated health on a vertical visual analogue scale. This can be used as a quantitative measure of health outcome that reflects the patient’s own judgement. The scores on these five dimensions can be presented as a health profile or can be converted to a single summary index number (utility) reflecting preferability compared to other health profiles.

EQ-5D-5L

Devlin NJ, Shah KK, Feng Y, Mulhern B, van Hout B. Valuing health‐related quality of life: An EQ‐5D‐5L value set for England. Health Economics. 2018;27:7–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3564