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Quality-of-Life Measures as Providers of Information on Value-for-Money of Health Interventions

Comparison and Recommendations for Practice

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  • Quality of Life and Value-for-Money
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Abstract

Summary

Three different approaches to measuring quality of life have been developed. Global scales (e.g. time trade-off, visual analogue), multi-attribute utility scales and multidimensional scales (which may be generic or disease-specific). Each of these approaches to measurement provides different kinds of information about quality of life and each can be used to provide information to healthcare purchasers concerning the relative value-for-money of health interventions.

The value-for-money of health interventions, in terms of quality of life, can be demonstrated in 2 ways: a formula-driven approach based on cost-utility analysis, which uses scales generating the unit of a quality-adjusted life-year (i.e. global and multi-attribute utility): and a non-formula-driven approach, which uses scales generating multidimensional profiles of quality of life (i.e. multi-attribute utility and multidimensional).

Analysis shows that no single approach is sufficient, and that healthcare purchasers should use a variety of types of information in their decision-making, including both cost-utility and informal approaches. Healthcare resource allocation is inevitably a value-dependent activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plymouth Health-related Quality of Life Research Centre, Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, England

    Michael E. Hyland

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  1. Michael E. Hyland
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Hyland, M.E. Quality-of-Life Measures as Providers of Information on Value-for-Money of Health Interventions. Pharmacoeconomics 11, 19–31 (1997). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-199711010-00004

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