Crosswalk methods"
In eq5dsuite: Handling and Analysing EQ-5d Data

knitr::opts_chunk$set(
  collapse = TRUE,
  comment  = "#>"
)
library(eq5dsuite)

Introduction

Crosswalk methods allow EQ-5D values to be estimated when a country-specific value set exists for one instrument version but not another. eq5dsuite implements three widely used approaches:

Original crosswalk (eqxw) — maps EQ-5D-5L responses to EQ-5D-3L values (van Hout et al., 2012)
Reverse crosswalk (eqxwr) — maps EQ-5D-3L responses to EQ-5D-5L values (van Hout and Shaw, 2021)
UK-specific crosswalk (eqxw_UK) — NICE-recommended mapping for UK analyses (Hernandez Alava et al., 2023)

When to use crosswalk methods

Use crosswalk methods when:

You have EQ-5D-5L data but only a 3L value set exists for your country → use eqxw()
You have EQ-5D-3L data but only a 5L value set exists → use eqxwr()
You are conducting a NICE technology appraisal and have EQ-5D-5L data → use eqxw_UK() until a NICE-approved 5L value set is available

Original crosswalk: eqxw()

eq5d5l_data <- data.frame(
  id = 1:5,
  mo = c(1, 2, 3, 1, 2),
  sc = c(1, 1, 2, 1, 3),
  ua = c(2, 1, 3, 1, 2),
  pd = c(2, 3, 2, 1, 4),
  ad = c(1, 2, 1, 3, 2)
)

# Apply crosswalk using UK 3L value set
eq5d5l_data$value_xw <- eqxw(
  eq5d5l_data,
  country   = "UK",
  dim.names = c("mo", "sc", "ua", "pd", "ad")
)

eq5d5l_data

Reverse crosswalk: eqxwr()

eq5d3l_data <- data.frame(
  id = 1:5,
  mo = c(1, 2, 1, 3, 2),
  sc = c(1, 1, 2, 2, 1),
  ua = c(1, 2, 1, 3, 2),
  pd = c(2, 2, 1, 3, 3),
  ad = c(1, 1, 2, 2, 1)
)

# Apply reverse crosswalk using Spain 5L value set
eq5d3l_data$value_rxw <- eqxwr(
  eq5d3l_data,
  country   = "ES",
  dim.names = c("mo", "sc", "ua", "pd", "ad")
)

eq5d3l_data

UK-specific crosswalk: eqxw_UK()

The UK-specific crosswalk requires age and sex in addition to the five EQ-5D dimensions:

uk_data <- data.frame(
  id   = 1:5,
  mo   = c(1, 2, 1, 3, 2),
  sc   = c(1, 1, 2, 2, 1),
  ua   = c(1, 2, 1, 3, 2),
  pd   = c(2, 2, 1, 3, 3),
  ad   = c(1, 1, 2, 2, 1),
  age  = c(45, 62, 38, 71, 55),
  male = c(1,  0,  1,  0,  1)
)

uk_data$value_uk <- eqxw_UK(
  uk_data,
  age  = "age",
  male = "male"
)

uk_data

Crosswalk compatibility with custom value sets

All crosswalk functions are compatible with custom value sets added via eqvs_add(). The mapping and valuation steps are independent, so any compatible value set can be used without modification.