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TJENESTER-Helse- og omsorgstjenester

VALUING HEALTH BENEFITS IN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF HEALTH CARE PROGRAMMES

Awarded: NOK 4.5 mill.

Project Number:

186500

Application Type:

Project Period:

2008 - 2012

Location:

Economic evaluation is increasingly used for priority setting in health care. Almost any health care programme has elements of improvements in survival time (longevity) or health related quality of life (HRQoL). With respect to time, the current standard methods for economic evaluation assume that any increase in survival time carries some value to people, however small it is. It also implies that any increase in survival is valuable, even if it comes many years into the future. In practice, many health i nterventions increase survival times by a few weeks or months, and the benefit may come many years into the future. Many health interventions have its main impact on symptoms and functional capacity. It is therefore necessary to capture the value of imp rovements in HRQoL for economic evaluation. This is usually done by means of ?instruments? where the respondents (patients, etc.) fill in a questionnaire with items that are capturing pain, immobility, anxiety, etc. The responses are subsequently ?transla ted? into a 0-1 scale by means of an algorithm. The EQ-5D and 15D are two such standard HRQoL instruments used for economic evaluation of health care interventions. These instruments, however, have not been validated in Norway. The objectives of this pr oject is first to test the assumption that the value of survival time increases proportionally with time. Second, the aim is to value health states for two commonly used HRQoL instruments. The objectives will be met by undertaking various interview stud ies in the general population and among patients with heart disease. The critical issue in this project will be to develop interview techniques that allow people to express their true valuation of survival time and health states. Focus group interviews an d pilot studies will be used to meet this end. The project will be useful for health authorities because it will provide a basis for better economic evaluation based on national values and preferences.

Funding scheme:

TJENESTER-Helse- og omsorgstjenester