Objective  To explore the reliability and validity of the EQ-5D-5L scale in the population of southwest China.

  Methods  The internal consistency reliability is measured by Cronbach's α coefficient and the structural validity is measured by factor analysis. The difference in health utility value of different characteristic populations is compared by t test and analysis of variance.

  Results  Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.857. Exploratory factor analysis extracts two common factors whose cumulative contribution rate is 77.311%. The first common factor represents mobility, self-care and uaual activities. The second common factor represents pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the correlation of the two common factors was 0.659, the average variance of the first common factor was 0.862 and the combination reliability was 0.949, and the average variance extracted of the second common factor was 0.587 and the composite reliability was 0.739. The factor loadings for mobility, self-care and uaual activities on the first common factor were 0.871, 0.945 and 0.967, respectively. The loadings for pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression on the second common factor were 0.708 and 0.820, respectively.

  Conclusion  EQ-5D-5L has good reliability and validity when it is applied to the measurement of healthy life quality of residents in Southwest China.