A Spanish value set for the SF-6D based on the SF-12 v1

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Psychometrics
• Public Health

Background:

• The SF-6D is a widely used health utility measure.
• Existing SF-6D value sets may not accurately reflect Spanish population preferences.
• Developing a Spain-specific SF-6D (SF-12) value set is crucial for accurate health economic evaluations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the first SF-6D (SF-12) value set for the Spanish general population.
• To assess the cost-effectiveness of health interventions in Spain using population preferences.

Main Methods:

• A representative sample of 1020 Spanish individuals valued 56 SF-6D health states.
• The probability lottery equivalent (PLE) method was employed.
• Ordinary least squares (OLS) models were used to derive the value set, with the best model selected based on mean absolute error (MAE).

Main Results:

• The OLS main effects model achieved the lowest MAE (0.075).
• Pain emerged as the most significant dimension influencing health state severity.
• The new SF-6D (SF-12) model predicted higher utilities compared to the SF-6D (SF-36) algorithm.

Conclusions:

• A Spanish SF-6D (SF-12) value set based on general population preferences has been successfully estimated.
• This preference-based measure is a valuable tool for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of health technologies in Spain.
• The findings support the use of this new measure for health policy decision-making.