Table 1.

Lay descriptions for all severity levels of three diseases; namely alcohol use disorder, major depressive disorder, and osteoarthritis, examined in the study.

Health State	Lay Description
Alcohol-use disorder severity
Mild	Drinks a lot of alcohol and sometimes has difficulty controlling the urge to drink. While intoxicated, the person has difficulty performing daily activities.
Moderate	Drinks a lot, gets drunk almost every week and has great difficulty controlling the urge to drink. Drinking and recovering causes great difficulty in daily activities, and causes sleep loss and fatigue.
Severe	Gets drunk almost every day and is unable to control the urge to drink. Drinking and recovering replace most daily activities. The person has difficulty thinking, remembering, and communicating, and feels constant pain and fatigue.
Major depressive disorder severity
Mild	Feels persistent sadness and has lost interest in usual activities. The person sometimes sleeps badly, feels tired, or has trouble concentrating but still manages to function in daily life with extra effort.
Moderate	Has constant sadness and has lost interest in usual activities. The person has some difficulty in daily life, sleeps badly, has trouble concentrating, and sometimes thinks about harming himself (or herself).
Severe	Has overwhelming, constant sadness and cannot function in daily life. The person sometimes loses touch with reality and wants to harm or kill him/herself.
Osteoarthritis category
Treated with surgery	The person has already had surgery for total knee/hip replacement and supportive treatment (pain medication, anti-inflammatories), which resulted in reduced pain and disability.
Treated with medication/therapy	Has pain in knee or hip, causing difficulty to move the knee or walk with a limp and feels discomfort when walking. Supportive treatment (pain medication, anti-inflammatories) may result in reduced pain and disability.
No treatment (waiting for surgery	Has severe pain in knee or hip, causing difficulty to move the knee or walk with a limp and feels discomfort when walking. Supportive treatment (pain medication, anti-inflammatories) may result in reduced pain and disability. Joint replacement may occur and patients are waiting for surgery of total knee/hip replacement.