Measurement of health state preferences in Canada

Over the past months, we have laid the foundation for quantifying the preferences of Canadians for several hundred health states. Preference scores were elicited from 17 panels of Canadians, each with about 10 participants. Using the standard gamble measurement technique, participants considered how living with certain health states would affect their own lives in terms of usual activities, such as work, school, community participation, or family and social roles.

Detailed and consistent descriptions of health states were developed for the Population Health Impact of Disease, Injury, and Health Determinants in Canada (PHI) to ensure that participants had a common understanding of each state and its impact on functional capacity. These descriptions used a comprehensive classification system, CLAMES, developed for the PHI. CLAMES is based on elements of existing instruments such as the Health Utilities Index, the SF-36 and the EuroQol 5D.

Mean scores from this exercise will be used to reflect the Canadian population’s relative preference for each health state as a numeric score on an interval scale from 0 to 100. The preference scores will be combined with epidemiologic data in the PHI to estimate year-equivalents lost to reduced functioning, a measure of the impact of morbidity.

More on this exciting work in forthcoming issues.

Sarah Gorber