Eliciting EuroQol descriptive data and utility scale values from inpatients. A feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Patient-Reported Outcomes
• Quality of Life Measurement

Background:

• Current health state valuation research often relies on general population samples.
• General population respondents may lack direct experience of the health states being valued.
• This limits the applicability of existing utility values to patient populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare health state utility values elicited from acutely ill inpatients with those from the general population.
• To investigate potential differences in health valuation between patients and the public.
• To assess the feasibility of collecting such data from hospitalized patients.

Main Methods:

• A microstudy was conducted using the EuroQol instrument.
• Health state descriptions and utility values were elicited from acutely ill inpatients across five wards.
• Data collection focused on patients' direct experiences of their health states.

Main Results:

• Preliminary findings suggest that acutely ill inpatients assign higher utility values to health states compared to the general population.
• The small sample size necessitates cautious interpretation of these initial results.
• A trend indicates a divergence between patient and general population valuations.

Conclusions:

• Patient-derived health state utility values may differ significantly from those obtained from the general population.
• Further research with larger patient cohorts is recommended to validate these findings.
• Incorporating patient perspectives is crucial for accurate health economic evaluations.