Measuring health-related quality of life among adults in Singapore: population norms for the EQ-5D

Purpose To provide population norms for the Euro-QoL-5D (EQ-5D) according to age, sex, ethnicity and language version using a representative sample of adults aged 18 years and above in the Singapore population. Methods A total of 5,594 respondents who completed the self-administrated paper-based EQ-5D in the Singapore Mental Health Study were included in this study. Socio-demographic characteristics were captured using a structured questionnaire. Results The mean age of the sample was 40 years, females comprised 52.2% of the sample and 78% were of Chinese descent. Pain/discomfort was the most frequently reported problem (15.3%) followed by anxiety/depression (8.2%), whilst self-care (0.5%) was the least frequently reported problem in the Singapore population. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that younger age, higher income, those employed and those administered English version of the questionnaire were significantly associated with higher EQ-5D index. Conclusions This article provides important population norms for the EQ-5D for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) both in clinical settings and in the research context. Our results suggest that socio-demographic factors should be taken into account when assessing HRQOL among adults in Singapore.