Table 1.

Comparison of the dimensions and content of five MAU instruments^a

Dimension	Multi-attribute utility instruments
	EQ-5D-5L	SF-6D	HUI 3	15D	AQoL-8D
Physical
Physical ability/mobility/vitality/coping/control	*	*	**	**	***
Bodily function/self-care	*			***	*
Pain/discomfort	*	*	*	*	**
Senses			**	**	**
Usual activities/work	*	*		*	****
Communication			*	*	*
Psycho-social
Sleeping				*	*
Depression/anxiety/anger	*	*	*	***	*******
General satisfaction					****
Self-esteem					**
Cognition/memory ability			*
Social function/relationships		*			******
(Family) role		*			*
Intimacy/sexual relationships				*	*
Total items	5	6	8	15	35
Health states describedb	3,125	18,000	972,000	3.1 × 1010	2.4 × 1023

^aEach asterisk [*] in the table represents an item in an instrument

^bThe number of possible health states is determined by the number of items and the number of response categories per item. The EQ-5D-5L has 5 items, each with 5 response levels and therefore 5⁵=3,125 possible health states