EuroQol data for assessment of population health needs and instrument evaluation (EQ-DAPHNIE): a study for enhancing population health assessment.

Background: Methods for collecting self-reported health status measures in population health surveys vary significantly across countries, presenting challenges to comparability. The EuroQol Data for Assessment of Population Health Needs and Instrument Evaluation (EQ-DAPHNIE) project aims to address this issue by developing infrastructure to generate representative datasets across multiple countries. This initiative aims to standardize data collection methodologies and to evaluate the performance of various health status measures, providing a foundation for reliable population health assessments. This paper describes the rationale, design and data collection methods for the EQ-DAPHNIE project.

Methods/design: EQ-DAPHNIE employs a cross-sectional online survey design targeting the general adult population across various countries. Participants were recruited through an online panel provider. Each country had a target sample of 4500 responses, with quota sampling to ensure representativeness based on age, sex, income, region, and language. The survey collected comprehensive data on social determinants of health at both individual and neighbourhood levels. Participation was voluntary, and measures were taken to maintain data anonymity and ensure data quality through pre-testing and various quality assurance approaches.

Discussion: The EQ-DAPHNIE project represents a significant advancement in generating large, representative, and comparable population health datasets across multiple countries. By employing precise sampling strategies, robust recruitment and data collection methods, and rigorous quality control measures, the project aims to provide a valuable resource for assessing and understanding population health and evaluating various health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and wellbeing instruments.