Health State Utility Values: A Description of Their Development and Application for Rheumatic Diseases

摘要

The primary outcomes of most clinical studies in rheumatology are chosen as the most relevant and meaningful for the clinical community. However, they have restricted value in assisting policymakers considering resource-allocation decisions. Although clinical outcomes might constitute important results in a rheumatology trial, their use in economic evaluation is confined to cost-effectiveness analysis where outcomes are measured in units that are relevant to the condition under investigation. Comparisons between cost-effectiveness studies are restricted because the outcomes are typically measured in units that differ from study to study. Comparison across therapeutic areas becomes almost impossible. Therefore, cost-utility analysis (CUA; a distinct form of cost-effectiveness analysis) in which outcomes are measured in terms of a standard unit metric that combines information on the quantity and quality of life, the quality-adjusted life year (QALY), is important (1,2). The QALY requires data that express health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the form of a single value, known as a health state utility value (HSUV), which is scored on a scale that assigns a value of 1 to a state equivalent to full health and 0 to a state equivalent to death (3).