title: Use of visual analog scales in economic evaluation.
abstract: Visual analog scales or rating scales are commonly used in economic evaluation to elicit preferences in order to estimate quality-adjusted life years. Values obtained from visual analog scales have been used on their own or via a transformation to map them onto one of the choice-based methods for elicting preferences, namely standard gamble or time trade-off. The arguments against using visual analog scales in economic evaluation directly or indirectly via a transformation are reviewed. It is concluded that it canonly ever provide a second best solution compared with the direct use of a choice-based technique.
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Health Economics Group, University of Sheffield, UK. J.E.Brazier@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brazier
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCabe
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stevens