Preference-based Index for the Recovering Quality of Life (ReQoL) instrument for use in economic evaluations of mental health care

• Applicant: Dr. Judith Dams
• Subject Area: Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 535049165

A reliable and valid instrument for measuring health-related quality of life in mental illness is not available in Germany. In particular, current instruments for economic evaluations are less responsive to change and therefore do not adequately measure intervention effects. Preliminary evidence suggests that the Recovering Quality of Life (ReQoL) questionnaire has better psychometric properties. In order to use the ReQoL as an effect measure in economic analyses, preference-based value sets are needed which have already been published for the UK. However, due to cultural and socio-demographic differences between the UK and Germany, generalization to the German general population is limited. The aim of this study will therefore be to determine preference-based value sets for the ReQoL based on a representative sample of the German general population. Similar to the British valuation study, the time-trade-off approach will be used to derive value sets for Germany by linear, quadratic, and cubic mixed-effect models. Thus, in the future, the ReQoL questionnaire will also be available in the German context for measuring effects in health economic analyses.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants