A software application for multiattribute utility models

A software application for the building of preference-weighted quality of life instruments was constructed. The purpose of this application is to make the process of building such instruments with multiattribute utility (MAU) methods more accessible to physician investigators. Our application, "multiattribute outcomes evaluator" or "MOE," could facilitate the use of such methods for constructing disease-specific instruments for assessing the cost-effectiveness of new treatments. MOE could also be useful for building outcomes measures that are intended to aid individual decision making, assessment of patient satisfaction with care, or measuring of multiattribute outcomes that do not need to be scaled for cost-effectiveness analysis.

MOE was programmed in Visual Basic and runs atop a Microsoft Access data base. Data from groups or individuals can be stored, and valuations of health states can be performed using standard gambles and rating scale methods. Solutions to MAU models with multiplicative or additive utility independence are possible with this application.

Initial tests of the program algorithms have been successful.

We anticipate The MOE approach to MAU modeling will be a useful tool for health services researchers.