RESULTS ( 1 ) EQ-5D was valid and responsive for skin conditions and most cancers ; in vision , its performance varied according to aetiology ; and performance was poor for hearing impairments .
The HUI3 performed well for hearing and vision disorders .
It also performed well in cancers although evidence was limited and there was no evidence in skin conditions .
Response mapping using all the domain scores was the best performing model for the EORTC QLQ-C30 .
In an exploratory analysis , a limited dependent variable mixture model performed better than an equivalent linear model .
3 ) The exploratory valuation study found that bolt-on items for vision , hearing and tiredness had a significant impact on values of the health states , but the direction and magnitude of differences depended on the severity of the health state .
The vision bolt-on item had a statistically significant impact on EQ-5D health state values and a full valuation model was estimated .
EQ-5D performs well in studies of cancer and skin conditions .
Mapping techniques provide a solution to predict EQ-5D values where EQ-5D has not been administered .
For conditions where EQ-5D was found to be inappropriate , including some vision disorders and for hearing , bolt-ons provide a promising solution .
BACKGROUND The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends the use of generic preference-based measures ( GPBMs ) of health for its Health Technology Assessment s ( HTAs ) .
However , these data may not be available or appropriate for all health conditions .
OBJECTIVES To determine whether GPBMs are appropriate for some key conditions and to explore alternative methods of utility estimation when data from GPBMs are unavailable or inappropriate .
( 2 ) Potential modelling approaches to ' map ' EQ-5D values from condition-specific and clinical measures of health [ European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality -of-life Question naire Core 30 ( EORTC QLQ-C30 ) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General Scale ( FACT-G ) ] are compared for predictive ability and goodness of fit using two separate data sets . (
Quality of life during maintenance therapy with the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab in patients with B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: results of a prospective randomized controlled trial
The introduction of rituximab into the primary treatment of malignant lymphomas of the B cell lineage has had a major impact on the management of these diseases . In addition , prolonged exposure to rituximab as maintenance therapy has been beneficial in patients with follicular lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma . For the individual patient , the effect of any prolonged antitumor therapy on the quality of life ( QoL ) is a very important question . However , so far , the question whether rituximab maintenance therapy may impair QoL in patients with non-Hodgkin ’s lymphoma remains unanswered . To investigate this subject , we have performed a prospect i ve r and omized trial of rituximab maintenance therapy ( 8 cycles rituximab 375 mg/m2 every 3 months ) versus observation in patients with CD20+B cell non-Hodgkin ’s lymphoma in our institution . Between July 2002 and December 2005 , 122 patients were included into the trial .  QoL was assessed with the st and ardized question naires EORTC-QLQ-C30 , EuroQol-5D , and EuroQol-5D ( VAS ) in 91 patients . After statistical analysis with the exact Wilcoxon rank sum test , we found no significant differences of the QoL between the rituximab treatment group and the observation group . We conclude that rituximab maintenance therapy seems to be safe and does not impair quality of life in this patient population
RESULTS ( 1 ) EQ-5D was valid and responsive for skin conditions and most cancers ; in vision , its performance varied according to aetiology ; and performance was poor for hearing impairments .
The HUI3 performed well for hearing and vision disorders .
It also performed well in cancers although evidence was limited and there was no evidence in skin conditions .
Response mapping using all the domain scores was the best performing model for the EORTC QLQ-C30 .
In an exploratory analysis , a limited dependent variable mixture model performed better than an equivalent linear model .
3 ) The exploratory valuation study found that bolt-on items for vision , hearing and tiredness had a significant impact on values of the health states , but the direction and magnitude of differences depended on the severity of the health state .
The vision bolt-on item had a statistically significant impact on EQ-5D health state values and a full valuation model was estimated .
EQ-5D performs well in studies of cancer and skin conditions .
Mapping techniques provide a solution to predict EQ-5D values where EQ-5D has not been administered .
For conditions where EQ-5D was found to be inappropriate , including some vision disorders and for hearing , bolt-ons provide a promising solution .
BACKGROUND The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends the use of generic preference-based measures ( GPBMs ) of health for its Health Technology Assessment s ( HTAs ) .
However , these data may not be available or appropriate for all health conditions .
OBJECTIVES To determine whether GPBMs are appropriate for some key conditions and to explore alternative methods of utility estimation when data from GPBMs are unavailable or inappropriate .
( 2 ) Potential modelling approaches to ' map ' EQ-5D values from condition-specific and clinical measures of health [ European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality -of-life Question naire Core 30 ( EORTC QLQ-C30 ) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General Scale ( FACT-G ) ] are compared for predictive ability and goodness of fit using two separate data sets . (