Browsing by Author "Ferreira, Pedro Lopes"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Contribution for the validation of the portuguese version of EQ-5DPublication . Ferreira, Pedro Lopes; Ferreira, Lara Noronha; Pereira, Luis NobreIntroduction: The EQ-5D allows the achievement of two essential components of any measure of health-related quality of life to be used in cost-utility economic evaluations: (i) a profile describing the health status in terms of domains or dimensions; and (ii) a numeric value associated with the health status described. Aim: The Portuguese version of the EQ-5D questionnaire was completed in 1998, based on guidelines set by the EuroQol Group, including translation and back translation procedures. Despite its wide use in Portugal, until now it had not yet been published studies that initially led to the Portuguese version and the guarantee of acceptability, reliability and validity. The purpose of this article is to document these first values relating to the Portuguese version of the EQ-5D. Material and Methods: We used three different samples: a first one with 1,500 individuals representative of the Portuguese population; a second with 140 individuals just intended for the reliability test; and a third sample with 643 individual patients with cataracts, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or rheumatoid arthritis. Results: The acceptability was assessed by the number of missing responses. It was also found a marked ceiling effect, with a large part of the sample not reporting any problems in the dimensions of the EQ-5D. Discussion: The construct validity was tested by examining the degree to which low values of EQ-5D were positively associated with increasing age, being female, and the sick, as well as the values of dimensions of the SF-36v2 scale. Convergent validity was based on correlations between EQ-5D values and other specific measures. The EQ-5D showed moderate to high correlations with other disease-specific measures of health status and health related quality of life. Conclusion: We can state that the Portuguese version of the EQ-5D has a good accessibility, reliability and validity in measuring health.
- Health-related quality of life in patients with Rheumatoid ArthritisPublication . Ferreira, Lara; Ferreira, Pedro Lopes; Baleiro, RitaObjectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic rheumatic disease of unknown aetiology and greater incidence among the elderly. It can lead to serious consequences regarding functional limitations and patient's ability to work. The purpose of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life in patients with RA. Methods: Portuguese version of SF-6D and Portuguese translations of EQ-5D and AIMS2-SF were self-administered in a postal survey to a representative sample of the Portuguese population with RA. Data concerning the patients' characteristics and the stage of the disease were also collected. Results: The majority of the patients presented minor problems in some of the instruments' dimensions. In a scale from 0.30 to 1.00, the average utility score was 0.77. The lowest utility scores were reported by women, those who were divorced or separated, individuals with lower educational levels, who had lower incomes, were recently diagnosed and those who were not taking new biological therapies. Apart from these, patients who had a more severe RA and co-morbidity also report lower utility scores. Conclusions: The preference-based utility measures used in this study adequately discriminate across different RA severity and socio-demographic background. Assuming that these values represent the patients' preferences and the utility associated with their health state, the results presented in this paper may be used as an approximation to normative values for the SF-6D in economic evaluation studies as well as in clinical studies.
- Quality of life in asthma patientsPublication . Ferreira, Lara; Brito, Ulisses; Ferreira, Pedro LopesIn this paper we present a study whose main aim is the measurement of the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of patients with asthma and the presentation of a first draft of normative values as measured by the SF-6D for asthma patients. In addition, we investigate how far non-disease-specific HRQoL measures can distinguish groups in terms of socio-demographic characteristics. The Portuguese versions of the EQ-5D, SF-6D, AQLQ(S) and ACQ were administered using personal interviews to a representative sample of the Portuguese population with asthma. Most of the individuals did not report significant problems in the dimensions used, with the exception of the physical functioning, where individuals reported moderate limitations. The mean utility value was 0.86. Male gender, young, single, individuals with high educational attainment level, employed, individuals with high income and those residing in urban areas reported higher utility levels. As expected, those who were in a severe stadium of the disease reported lower mean utility levels than those who were in a less severe stadium of the disease. Normative values for the SF-6D were computed for patients with asthma by gender, age, marital status, educational attainment level, employment status, area of residence and average monthly net income. The preference-based measures used in this study distinguish patient groups with asthma in terms of socio-demographic groups. The normative values can be used in economic evaluation and clinical studies as they incorporate patients' preferences and translate the value attributed to patients' health state.