Association between knee symptoms, change in knee symptoms over 6–9 years, and SF-6D health state utility among middle-aged Australians

• Published in: Quality of life research 2021-09, Vol.30 (9), p.2601-2613
• Main Authors: Singh, Ambrish, Campbell, Julie A., Venn, Alison, Jones, Graeme, Blizzard, Leigh, Palmer, Andrew J., Dwyer, Terence, Cicuttini, Flavia, Ding, Changhai, Antony, Benny
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Knee; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle age; Public Health; Quality of Life Research; Sociology; UTILITIES
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-021-02859-5

Objectives Health state utilities (HSUs) are an input metric for estimating quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) in cost–utility analyses. Currently, there is a paucity of data on association of knee symptoms with HSUs for middle-aged populations. We aimed to describe the association of knee symptoms and change in knee symptoms with SF-6D HSUs and described the distribution of HSUs against knee symptoms’ severity. Methods Participants (36–49-years) were selected from the third follow-up (completed 2019) of Australian Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study. SF-6D HSUs were generated from the participant-reported SF-12. Association between participant-reported WOMAC knee symptoms’ severity, change in knee symptoms over 6–9 years, and HSUs were evaluated using linear regression models. Results For the cross-sectional analysis, 1,567 participants were included; mean age 43.5 years, female 54%, BMI ± SD 27.18 ± 5.31 kg/m 2 . Mean ± SD HSUs for normal, moderate, and severe WOMAC scores were 0.820 ± 0.120, 0.800 ± 0.120, and 0.740 ± 0.130, respectively. A significant association was observed between worsening knee symptoms and HSUs in univariable and multivariable analyses after adjustment (age and sex). HSU decrement for normal-to-severe total-WOMAC and WOMAC-pain was − 0.080 (95% CI − 0.100 to − 0.060, p