Comparing WTP Values of Different Types of QALY Gain Elicited from the General Public

Mark Pennington, Rachel Baker, Werner Brouwer, Helen Mason, Dorte Gyrd-Hansen (), Angela Robinson, Cam Donaldson and the EuroVaQ Team
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Emily Lancsar

Health Economics, 2015, vol. 24, issue 3, 280-293

Abstract: Background The appropriate thresholds for decisions on the cost‐effectiveness of medical interventions remain controversial, especially in ‘end‐of‐life’ situations. Evidence of the values placed on different types of health gain by the general public is limited. Methods Across nine European countries, 17 657 people were presented with different hypothetical health scenarios each involving a gain of one quality adjusted life year (QALY) and asked about their willingness to pay (WTP) for that gain. The questions included quality of life (QoL) enhancing and life extending health gains, and a scenario where respondents faced imminent, premature death. Results The mean WTP values for a one‐QALY gain composed of QoL improvements were modest (PPP$11 000). When comparing QALY gains obtained in the near future, the valuation of life extension exceeded the valuation of QoL enhancing gains (mean WTP PPP$19 000 for a scenario in which a coma is avoided). The mean WTP values were higher still when respondents faced imminent, premature death (PPP$29 000). Conclusions Evidence from the largest survey on the value of health gains by the general public indicated a higher value for life extending gains compared with QoL enhancing gains. A further modest premium may be indicated for life extension when facing imminent, premature death. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3018

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:24:y:2015:i:3:p:280-293

Access Statistics for this article

Health Economics is currently edited by Alan Maynard, John Hutton and Andrew Jones

More articles in Health Economics from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().