Preferences of urban Zimbabweans for health and life lived at different ages.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the age-weighting preferences of urban Zimbabweans in relation to health care priorities.


METHODS
A total of 67 randomly selected residents of a high-density area of Harare participated in the study. Participants were asked "person trade-off" questions to determine their preferences in terms of the numbers of people of various ages who would be saved from death and from suffering a year of ill-health relative to the number of 30-year-olds who would be saved from these eventualities.


RESULTS
The responses indicate that the value of averting a year of ill-health was judged greatest for 15-year-olds and was equal for people aged 1, 30, and 45 years. The value of averting a death primarily reflected the expected years of life lost, but the influence of age-weighting was evident in that 15 years was the most highly valued age.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the age-weighting curves did not correspond exactly with the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) age-weights, Zimbabweans showed a preference for saving the lives of young adults. The GBD age-weights should be used to determine the disability-adjusted life years lost in the Zimbabwean population.
Jelsma
Jennifer
J
Department of Rehabilitation, Institute of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain, Belgium. jjelsma@uctgsh1.uct.ac.za
Shumba
Darlies
D
Kristian
Hansen
H
De Weerdt
Willy
W
De Cock
Paul
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006292:Health Priorities; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014505:Urban Population; D026712:Value of Life; D015030:Zimbabwe / Q000453:epidemiology