The Health Utilities Index (HUI®) System for Assessing Health-Related Quality of Life in Clinical Studies

William Furlong (), David Feeny, George Torrance and Ronald Barr

No 2001-02, Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis Working Paper Series from Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Abstract: Purpose. The paper reviews the Health Utilities Index (HUI®) as a means to describe health status and obtain utility scores reflecting health-related quality of life (HRQL). Materials. The HUI Mark 2 (HUI2) and Mark 3 (HUI3) classification and scoring systems are described. The methods used to estimate multi-attribute utility functions for HUI2 and HUI3 are reviewed. The use of HUI in clinical studies for a wide variety of conditions in a large number of countries is illustrated. Principal Findings. HUI provides a comprehensive description of the health status of subjects in clinical studies. HUI has been shown to be a reliable, responsive and valid measure in a wide variety of clinical studies. Utility scores provide an overall assessment of the HRQL of patients. Utility scores are also useful in cost-utility analyses and related studies. General population norm data are available. The widespread use of HUI facilitates the interpretation of results and permits comparisons. Conclusions. HUI is a useful tool for assessing health status and HRQL in clinical studies.

Keywords: clinical studies; cost-effectiveness analysis; cost-utility analysis; economic evaluation; health-related quality of life; health status; Health Utilities Index; HUI; QALY; utility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56 pages
Date: 2001
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

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