A Comparison of Japan and U.K. SF-6D Health-State Valuations Using a Non-Parametric Bayesian Method

There is interest in the extent to which valuations of health may differ between different countries and cultures, but few studies have compared preference values of health states obtained in different countries.

We sought to estimate and compare two directly elicited valuations for SF-6D health states between the Japan and U.K. general adult populations using Bayesian methods.

We analysed data from two SF-6D valuation studies where, using similar standard gamble protocols, values for 241 and 249 states were elicited from representative samples of the Japan and U.K. general adult populations, respectively. We estimate a function applicable across both countries that explicitly accounts for the differences between them, and is estimated using data from both countries.

The results suggest that differences in SF-6D health-state valuations between the Japan and U.K. general populations are potentially important. The magnitude of these country-specific differences in health-state valuation depended, however, in a complex way on the levels of individual dimensions.

The new Bayesian non-parametric method is a powerful approach for analysing data from multiple nationalities or ethnic groups, to understand the differences between them and potentially to estimate the underlying utility functions more efficiently.