A multinational study of health state preference values associated with chronic myelogenous leukemia

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a progressive, largely fatal cancer. Emerging treatments may prolong life; however, these result in additional monetary costs. Accurate estimation of their economic impact requires reliable estimates on preferences for health states. The purpose was to estimate preference weights from the general population in four developed countries for standardized health states experienced by persons with CML.

Time trade-off preferences with a 10-year time horizon were elicited for CML-related health states using an interviewer-administered survey from convenience samples in Canada (n=103), the United States (n=74), the UK (n=97), and Australia (n=79). Standardized descriptions of seven CML-related health states (characterizing chronic, accelerated and blast phases, each with responding and nonresponding state, and adverse events of treatment) were derived in consultation with oncologists. Generalized linear models were used to estimate whether utilities, adjusted for age and sex, differed by country.

The mean age of the sample (n=357) was 45 years and 46% were male. Mean unadjusted preference values of CML-related health states ranged from 0.84 for "Chronic phase responding to treatment" to 0.21 for "Blast phase, not responding to treatment." For each phase, preferences were lower for the nonresponding state. After adjustment for age and sex, considerable variability was observed in mean preference values between countries.

These data quantify the deteriorating impact of CML disease progression and the impact of nonresponse to treatment. The study results add to evidence from other disease areas that systematic differences exist in preference values between countries.