Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research
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Using inflammatory arthritis patients as an example, we investigate EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) profiles resulting in states worse than death (WTD), and the heath status of patients occupying these states. ⋯ Pain was the predominant factor in the WTD EQ-5D profiles occupied by arthritis patients. Patients occupying states WTD have poorer health-related quality of life than patients in low "better than death" states. Valuations of profiles vary according to how sets of preference weights for health profiles were developed. Further research should explore whether WTD valuations are supported by qualitative evidence and reflect the patient's health and experience of disease.
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To estimate the burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications in The Netherlands. ⋯ Drug treatment, hospitalizations, and cost attributed to diabetes mellitus have almost doubled between 2000 and 2004, but so did the "background" costs in the general population, perhaps because of preventive efforts.
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The efficacy of sequential adjuvant trastuzumab (aTZ) after chemotherapy in women with early-stage human epidermal growth factor-2 (HER2/neu)-positive breast cancer reported by the updated Herceptin Adjuvant (HERA) trial appears less favorable than originally reported. Based on these updated results, we estimated the cost-utility (CU) of sequential aTZ relative to chemotherapy alone in terms of incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. ⋯ The CU of sequential aTZ is primarily dependent on the magnitude and duration of benefit. Further clinical research is required to establish the optimum sequence and duration of aTZ therapy and clarify the magnitude and duration of treatment benefit.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of different valuation methods for population health status measured by the EQ-5D in three European countries.
The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare different valuation methods for population health status measured by the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) in three European countries. ⋯ In general, the differences among countries and valuations were rather small; nevertheless, some important variations should be taken into account while applying different valuation methods to the EQ-5D descriptive system. The associations between sociodemographic variables and health state scores remained the same across countries regardless of which value sets were used. Using different valuation methods lead to different QALY losses. To overcome this problem in international surveys aimed to compare health state scores or QALYs, it is advisable to use a single valuation method, making these scores comparable.