Measurement of Outcomes and Costs in Economic Analysis Flashcards
List 2 factors that affect costs and outcomes of an economic evaluation.
1 - Perspective (e.g. health services, public, patient, society etc.).
2 - Type of economic evaluation (cost effectiveness analysis or cost utility analysis).
List 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage of using clinical outcomes in an economic evaluation.
Advantages:
- Easily understood / transparent to clinicians and decision makers.
Disadvantage:
- Lack of comparability across different disease areas.
What is the possible range of values for quality of life measurements?
0-1.
How are QALYs calculated?
Gain in QALYs is the difference in:
the sum of (lengths of stages of life at a particular quality) * (quality of life at each stage in life).
between a prognosis with treatment and a prognosis without treatment.
List 4 methods of measuring quality of life.
1 - Value judgement.
2 - Questionnaires.
3 - Direct measurement from health state description.
4 - Published values in literature.
What are the five dimensions of quality of life according to the Euro-QoL EQ-5D questionnaire?
1 - Mobility.
2 - Self care.
3 - Usual activities.
4 - Pain / discomfort.
5 - Anxiety / depression.
*Each with five levels.
List 3 advantages of using QALYs.
1 - Takes into account both the impact on quality and quantity of life.
2 - Common unit of measure that can be used across disease areas.
3 - There are convenient tools for measurement (such as EQ-5D).
What is the economic definition of utility?
The level of satisfaction from goods or services.
List 4 disadvantages of QALYs.
1 - The assessment of a QALY is often based on individual values.
2 - Insensitivity of questionnaires.
3 - Does not take into account family / carer benefits.
4 - Does not take into account broader patient benefits.
List 5 patient benefits that are not captured by QALYs.
1 - Control.
2 - Reassurance.
3 - Knowledge.
4 - Satisfaction with care.
5 - Capability.
Give an example of a disadvantage of using economic evaluations to compare treatments.
The evaluations are on the assumption that distribution does not matter; it is just as good to give 50 years of QoL to one person as it is to give 10 years of QoL to 5 people.
What are the 2 types of direct costs of illness?
1 - Costs that involve the use of primary healthcare, secondary healthcare and social care.
2 - Costs that involve the use of non-health services (patient and carer incurred costs).
List 4 costs involving the use of non-health services (patient and carer incurred costs).
1 - Patient transportation.
2 - Paid carers.
3 - Informal carer time.
4 - OTC medicines and appliances.
List 2 indirect costs of illness.
What is the role of indirect costs in economic evaluations?
Wider costs to society due to lost production:
1 - Inability to work due to death or disability.
2 - Reduced productivity.
- Indirect costs are not required for UK analyses.
