Abstract

ESPINOSA ACUNA, Oscar Andrés. Classification of Health States and Preference Assessment Methodologies for Calculating Qalys: A Literature Review. Ens. Econ. [online]. 2020, vol.30, n.57, pp.175-193.  Epub Apr 19, 2021. ISSN 0121-117X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/ede.v30n57.89801.

The purpose of this research is to identify the main instruments for measuring health states and the methodologies for evaluating preferences, which are used to calculate quality-adjusted life years -QALYs-. From a literature review with a balanced search strategy to identify relevant bibliographic references, the technical characteristics of health classification systems are presented, such as functional concepts -social, mental, physical and sensory-, the combination of attributes, the number of different health states, the duration of the survey and its administration. Likewise, referring to the methodologies of valuation of preferences, the particularities on the consistency with the QALY theory, the flexibility in the description of health states, states worse than death, among other aspects, are summarized. It is concluded that there is no one better health status classification system or preference assessment method than another, so the researcher must choose the tool that best suits the condition under analysis and the specific study design.

JEL: I10, B41, D60.

Keywords : quality-adjusted life years; health economics; health classification systems; preference assessment.

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