A Study of the Construct Validity of the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) in Patients with Schizophrenia

This study assessed the construct validity of the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) in patients with schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia recruited from a tertiary mental hospital in Singapore completed the HUI3, the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS). Patients were assessed for presence and absence of 22 common psychiatric symptoms. Construct validity was assessed using 6 a priori hypotheses. Two hundred and two patients (mean age: 37.8 years, female: 52%) completed the survey. As hypothesized, overall HUI3 utility scores were correlated with SF-36 measures (Spearman’s rho: 0.19 to 0.51), SQLS scales (Spearman’s rho: −0.56 to −0.36), and the number of psychiatric symptoms (Spearman’s rho: −0.49). The HUI3 emotion attribute was moderately correlated with SF-36 mental health (Spearman’s rho: 0.45) and SQLS psychosocial scales (Spearman’s rho: −0.43), and HUI3 pain attribute was strongly correlated with SF-36 bodily pain scale (Spearman’s rho: 0.58). The mean HUI3 overall, emotion, cognition, and speech scores for patients with schizophrenia were 0.07, 0.09, 0.04 and 0.04 points lower than respective age-, sex- and ethnicity-adjusted population norms (p<0.001 for all, ANCOVA). This study provides evidence for the construct validity of the HUI3 in patients with schizophrenia.