title: Utility and work productivity data for economic evaluation of breast cancer therapies in the Netherlands and Sweden.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to estimate utility values in laypeople and productivity loss for women with breast cancer in Sweden and the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  To capture utilities, validated health state vignettes were used, which were translated into Dutch and Swedish. They described progressive disease, stable disease, and 7 grade 3/4 adverse events. One hundred members of the general public in each country rated the states using the visual analog scale and time trade-off method. To assess productivity, women who had recently completed or were currently receiving treatment for early or advanced breast cancer (the Netherlands, n = 161; Sweden, n = 52) completed the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment-General Health (WPAI-GH) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using means (SD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The utility study showed that the Swedish sample rated progressive and stable disease (mean, 0.61 [0.07] and 0.81 [0.05], respectively) higher than did the Dutch sample (0.49 [0.06] and 0.69 [0.05]). The health states incorporating the toxicities in both countries produced similar mean scores. Results of the WPAI-GH showed that those currently receiving treatment reported productivity reductions of 69% (the Netherlands) and 72% (Sweden); those who had recently completed therapy reported reductions of 41% (the Netherlands) and 40% (Sweden).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The differences in the utility scores between the 2 countries underline the importance of capturing country-specific values. The significant impact of adverse events on health-related quality of life was also highlighted. The WPAI-GH results demonstrated how the negative impact of breast cancer on productivity persists after women have completed their treatment.
authors.affiliation: The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Division of Experimental Therapy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gerardus W J
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Frederix
authors.forename: Nuz
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Quadri
authors.forename: Anke M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hövels
authors.forename: Fleur T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: van de Wetering
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamminga
authors.forename: Jan H M
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Schellens
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lloyd
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004526:Efficiency; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult