Measuring Outcomes Of Cancer Interventions For Economic Evaluation

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 08 Jun 2011 - 2:00 PDT


Economic evaluation is increasingly used to inform the allocation of resources across competing patient groups and interventions.

The outcomes of interventions are often measured in terms of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) using a generic measure of health-related quality of life 9HRQoL) scored by general population preferences, known as a preference-based measure. For cancer, there is a concern that these generic preference-based measures are inappropriate or insensitive.

A recent study, "Deriving a preference-based measure for cancer using the EORTC QLQ-C30", published in Value in Health, derives a preference-based measure of health-related quality of life specifically for use in cancer. The measure is derived from an existing validated measure, EORTC QLQ-C30, which is commonly used in cancer studies but cannot be used to inform economic evaluation in its current form. The preference weights estimated in this study enable EORTC QLQ-C30 datasets to be used to estimate QALYs to inform economic evaluation. The study was coauthored by Donna Rowen, John Brazier, Tracey Young, Sabine Gaugris, Benjamin M. Craig, Madeleine T King and Galina Velikova.

Says Dr. Rowen, "It is hoped that this measure will provide appropriate and useful information for economic evaluation undertaken in cancer studies."

Source:
ISPOR

• Additional
• References
• Citations