Do personal and societal preferences differ by socio-demographic group?
For equity, preferences used in cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) should yield similar values for different groups with similar health states. We used data from the US 2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, including socio-demographics, EQ-5D Index and EQ Visual Analog Scale (EQ VAS) scores, to examine whether EQ-5D Index (representing community preferences) and EQ VAS (representing personal preferences) scores differed systematically by socio-demographic group. Differences between EQ-5D Index and EQ VAS scores by socio-demographic group were small and mostly not statistically significant. These preliminary findings suggest that using the EQ-5D Index in CEAs may not contribute to socio-demographic inequities.
Franks
Peter
P
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, University of California, Sacramento, CA, USA. pfranks@ucdavis.edu
Lubetkin
Erica I
EI
Melnikow
Joy
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors