title: Utility values for specific hepatic encephalopathy health states elicited from the general public in the United Kingdom.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elicit utility values for five health states corresponding to increasing severity of hepatic encephalopathy, from members of the general public in the UK. The health states studied were Conn grades 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interviewer-administered time trade-off (TTO) and standard gamble (SG) utilities were elicited for the five health states from a random sample of 200 members of the general public in the UK, using health state descriptions validated by clinicians and members of the general public.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents' mean age was 49.5 years and 49% were female. Mean utilities were 0.962 (TTO) and 0.915 (SG) for Conn grade 0; 0.912 (TTO) and 0.837 (SG) for Conn grade 1; 0.828 (TTO) and 0.683 (SG) for Conn grade 2; 0.691 (TTO) and 0.489 (SG) for Conn grade 3; and 0.429 (TTO) and 0.215 (SG) for Conn grade 4. The TTO and SG values between the five Conn grades were significantly different (p < 0.001). Additionally, the TTO value was significantly higher than the SG value for the corresponding state (p <0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings quantify how different Conn grades and level of response to treatment may impact on the health-related quality of life of patients with hepatic encephalopathy. There were greater preference values for lower levels of disease, with the highest value associated with Conn grade 0. These health state preference values can be used to estimate the outcomes of different interventions for hepatic encephalopathy in terms of quality-adjusted life years.
authors.affiliation: Catalyst Health Economics Consultants, 34b High Street, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 1BN, UK. julian.guest@catalyst-health.co.uk.
authors.forename: Julian F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Guest
authors.forename: Kam
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nanuwa
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barden
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology