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Several measures have been used or developed to capture the health and well-being of caregivers, including the EQ Health and Well-being (EQ-HWB) and its short form, EQ-HWB-S. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties and construct validity of the EQ-HWB/EQ-HWB-S in a US caregiver population. A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 504 caregivers. Eligible participants were 18+ years old, provided unpaid care to a relative/friend aged 18+ in the past 6 months, and spent on average of at least 1 hour per week caregiving. Survey included the following measures: EQ-HWB, Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit for Carers-Carer, CarerQol, and EQ-5D-5L. Psychometric properties were assessed using response distributions, floor/ceiling effects, Spearman's correlation for convergent validity, and effect sizes (ES) for known-group validity based on caregiving situations and intensity. The average age of caregivers was 49.2 (SD = 15.4), with 57.5% being female. More than half (54.4%) reported high caregiving intensity, and 68.3% lived with the care recipient. The EQ-HWB-S index showed a strong positive correlation with the EQ-5D-5L (r s = 0.72), Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit for Carers (r s = 0.54), and CarerQol (r s = 0.54) indices. Notably, the EQ-HWB-S index showed the largest ES among measures in differentiating caregiving scenarios with a large ES for caregiver's general health (d = 1.00) and small ES for caregiving intensity (d = 0.39). Results support construct validity of EQ-HWB and EQ-HWB-S as measures for assessing health and well-being of adult informal caregivers in comparison with other validated instruments. Differing levels of known-group validity across anchors emphasize the importance of selecting appropriate measures for caregivers, depending on research question and/or intervention aims. • Various preference-based measures, including Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit for Carers-Carer, CarerQol-7D, and EQ-5D-5L, can be used to assess the health and quality of life of informal caregivers. The EQ Health and Well-being (EQ-HWB) was developed as a broader measure of health and well-being, including for caregivers. However, its psychometric properties have yet to be examined in relation to other validated measures, specifically in caregivers. • This study evaluated the psychometric properties of EQ-HWB and its short form, EQ-HWB-S, in a heterogeneous US caregiver population, demonstrating construct validity with other preference-based measures. Notably, care recipients' self-perceived burden to caregivers proved to be a valid anchor-based criterion for distinguishing groups based on the influence of caregiving on their health and well-being. • The findings highlight the importance of selecting appropriate measures for assessing health and well-being of informal caregivers. This choice should depend on the specific aims of the intervention being evaluated and perspective of economic evaluation. Using the appropriate measures can lead to more accurate assessments of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions with impacts on broader quality of life and well-being, which is essential for informed decision making in healthcare policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Existing measures for estimating quality-adjusted life-years are mostly limited to health-related quality of life. This article presents an overview of the development the EQ-HWB (EQ Health and Wellbeing), which is a measure that encompasses health and wellbeing.Methods: Stages: (1) Establishing domains through reviews of the qualitative literature informed by a conceptual framework. (2) Generation and selection of items to cover the domains. (3) Face validation of these items through qualitative interviews with 168 patients, social care users, general population, and carers across 6 countries (Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, United Kingdom, United States). (4) Extensive psychometric testing of candidate items (using classical, factor analysis, and item response theory methods) on > 4000 respondents in the 6 countries. Stakeholders were consulted throughout.Results: A total of 32 subdomains grouped into 7 high-level domains were identified from the qualitative literature and 97 items generated to cover them. Face validation eliminated 36 items, modified 14, and added 3. Psychometric testing of 64 items found little difference in missing data or problems with response distribution, the conceptual model was confirmed except in China, and most items performed well in the item response theory in all countries. Evidence was presented to stakeholders in 2 rounds of consultation to inform the final selection of items for the EQ-HWB (25-item) and the short version of EQ-HWB (9-items).Conclusions: EQ-HWB measures have been developed internationally for evaluating interventions in health, public health, and social care including the impact on patients, social care users, and carers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]