Is EQ-5D a valid measure of HRQoL in patients with movement disorders? A comparison with SF-36 and FIM questionnaires.

We assessed the descriptive part of the EQ-5D system in rehabilitation patients with validity severe moving disorders and compared it with the FIM and the SF-36 Health Survey in a sample of 60 patients. We analyzed the EQ-5D convergent validity and the correlations between EQ-5D scores and a clinical variables. The internal validity of the EQ-5D instrument proved good. Moreover, the EQ-5D discriminated symptom severity as scored by the FIM and the SF-36 correspondent subscales. We analyzed the sensitivity of the EQ-5D only with respect to the ability of patients to move with or without a wheelchair. Most patients considered "moving a wheelchair" as a good way of "getting about." This investigation can be considered a pilot study on the performance of the EQ-5D in a group of pathologies involving various degrees of movement disorders. The findings show possible problems of misinterpretation in the levels of the mobility dimension.