title: The Health Utilities Index (HUI) system for assessing health-related quality of life in clinical studies.
abstract: This paper reviews the Health Utilities Index (HUI) systems as means to describe health status and obtain utility scores reflecting health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The HUI Mark 2 (HUI2) and Mark 3 (HUI3) classification and scoring systems are described. The methods used to estimate multiattribute utility functions for HUI2 and HUI3 are reviewed. The use of HUI in clinical studies for a wide variety of conditions in a large number of countries is illustrated. HUI provides a comprehensive description of the health status of subjects in clinical studies. HUI has been shown to be a reliable, responsive and valid measure in a wide variety of clinical studies. Utility scores provide an overall assessment of the HRQoL of patients. Utility scores are also useful in cost-utility analyses and related studies. General population norm data are available. The widespread use of HUI facilitates the interpretation of results and permits comparisons. HUI is a useful tool for assessing health status and HRQoL in clinical studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont, Canada. furlongb@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Furlong
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Feeny
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Torrance
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Barr
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012015:Reference Standards