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Quality‐adjusted life years: how useful in medico economic studies
Author(s) -
Brauer Carmen A.,
Neumann Peter J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
fundamental and clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1472-8206
pISSN - 0767-3981
DOI - 10.1111/j.1472-8206.2005.00369.x
Subject(s) - quality adjusted life year , psychological intervention , quality (philosophy) , cost effectiveness analysis , actuarial science , unit (ring theory) , quality of life (healthcare) , cost–benefit analysis , health care , medicine , risk analysis (engineering) , public economics , management science , computer science , cost effectiveness , psychology , economics , nursing , economic growth , political science , philosophy , mathematics education , epistemology , law
Cost‐effectiveness analysis has evolved as a practical response to the need to allocate limited resources for health care. It can be used to compare interventions whose effects on health are different if the measure of effectiveness captures all the important health dimensions of the effects of the interventions. Using the quality‐adjusted life year (QALY) as the unit of effectiveness attempts to approach this ideal and is currently the approach recommended by many consensus groups. Conventional QALYs represent time spend in a series of “quality‐weighted” health states, where the quality weights reflect the desirability of living in the state. Many challenges arise when preferences are incorporated into an economic analysis. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the issues surrounding the use of QALYs and to encourage researchers to present their methodology in a clear and transparent way.