Putting the ‘Q’ in QALY in cost-utility analyses: The importance of using standardized methods to estimate utility when calculating quality adjusted life-years

Lars Oddershede

    Research output: PhD thesis

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    Abstract

    Resources are scare and healthcare systems must, therefore, prioritize which new technologies should be funded, and which should be rejected. To aid decision makers in their choice, economic evaluations can be conducted to assess the cost-effectiveness of the new technologies.
    The present thesis argues that two problems could be solved by updating the Danish guideline for economic evaluations to include a stated preference for measuring effectiveness in terms of quality adjusted life-years (QALYs). Firstly, it would be possible to compare the cost-effectiveness of new technologies across conditions. Secondly, it would make it possible to capture both effects and side effects of new technologies in a single outcome measure. Therefore, the present thesis explores how to procure optimal estimates of quality of life, i.e. utility, for QALY calculations in different situations, depending on which data are available.
    Using the methodological papers and economic evaluations conducted during the PhD project; the thesis exemplifies why it is important to use standardized methods when calculating QALYs in economic evaluations.
    The thesis recommends that a shared measure of health, QALYs, is used in order to make the results of the economic evaluations submitted to the Danish Health and Medicines Authorities more comparable across conditions and interventions.
    Translated title of the contributionStandardiserede metoder til beregning af kvalitetsjusterede leveår i sundhedsøkonomiske evalueringer
    Original languageEnglish
    Supervisors
    • Petersen, Karin Dam, Principal supervisor
    • Andreasen, Jan Jesper, Co-supervisor
    Publisher
    Electronic ISBNs978-87-7112-169-8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

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