Argentina Publishes The First EQ-5D Value Set In Latin America

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 21 Nov 2008 - 3:00 PST

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Argentine health policy should take into account its population's values, and this is the first study to measure health preferences within Argentina.

The objectives were to estimate an Argentine value set for EQ-5D health states and to compare these societal values with those of the US population.

Argentine values, though highly correlated to those of the United States, demonstrate clinically meaningful differences for most of the health state (63%). Argentines placed lower values on mild states and higher values on severe states compared to the US.

Says Dr. Federico Augustovski, "The Argentine study produced remarkable results, particularly given its small budget, limited survey support, and questionable feasibility at start. Until more studies like this are conducted in Latin America, local and regional health departments face great difficulty in accounting for the endemic values of their citizenry."

Local value sets are needed to inform health economic evaluations; otherwise one population is dictating the preferences of another. Though similar value sets have been derived in several European countries and the US, there were no such estimates that reflect the preferences of any Latin American country before this study.

The study will be published in an upcoming issue of Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and outcomes Research.

Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) publishes papers, concepts, and ideas that advance the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research and help health care leaders to make decisions that are solidly evidence-based. The journal is published bi-monthly and has a regular readership of over 4,000 clinicians, decision-makers, and researchers worldwide.

ISPOR is a nonprofit, international organization that strives to translate pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research into practice to ensure that society allocates scarce health care resources wisely, fairly, and efficiently.

http://www.ispor.org
http://www.iecs.org.ar