[The role of utilities in economic evaluations of healthcare interventions-an introduction]

Assessment of strength of preference values (utilities) for patients' own health, or disease states from a societal perspective, is an essential element to economic evaluations of healthcare interventions. This review provides an overview of the different methods used to directly elicit strength of preference values: the standard gamble, time trade-off and rating scale methods. Methods used to derive utilities for patients' health states indirectly, and from a societal perspective are described. Three commonly used questionnaires: Health Utilities Index 3, EQ-5D and SF-6D are briefly commented upon. We also discuss the usefulness of utilities and advantages and disadvantages to be considered when choosing direct or indirect utility elicitation methods.