title: Mapping between 6 Multiattribute Utility Instruments.
abstract: Cost-utility analyses commonly employ a multiattribute utility (MAU) instrument to estimate the health state utilities, which are needed to calculate quality-adjusted life years. Different MAU instruments predict significantly different utilities, which makes comparison of results from different evaluation studies problematical.
  
  
  
  This article presents mapping functions ("crosswalks") from 6 MAU instruments (EQ-5D-5L, SF-6D, Health Utilities Index 3 [HUI 3], 15D, Quality of Well-Being [QWB], and Assessment of Quality of Life 8D [AQoL-8D]) to each of the other 5 instruments in the study: a total of 30 mapping functions.
  
  
  
  Data were obtained from a multi-instrument comparison survey of the public and patients in 7 disease areas conducted in 6 countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom, and United States). The 8022 respondents were administered each of the 6 study instruments. Mapping equations between each instrument pair were estimated using 4 econometric techniques: ordinary least squares, generalized linear model, censored least absolute deviations, and, for the first time, a robust MM-estimator.
  
  
  
  Goodness-of-fit indicators for each of the results are within the range of published studies. Transformations reduced discrepancies between predicted utilities. Incremental utilities, which determine the value of quality-related health benefits, are almost perfectly aligned at the sample means.
  
  
  
  Transformations presented here align the measurement scales of MAU instruments. Their use will increase confidence in the comparability of evaluation studies, which have employed different MAU instruments.
authors.affiliation: Flinders Health Economics Group, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia (GC, JR)
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Clayton, Australia (MAK, AI, JR)
authors.forename: Munir A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Clayton, Australia (MAK, AI, JR)
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iezzi
authors.affiliation: Flinders Health Economics Group, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia (GC, JR)
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ratcliffe
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Clayton, Australia (MAK, AI, JR)
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D017059:Models, Econometric; D011788:Quality of Life; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: cost-effectiveness analysis; cost-utility analysis; health-related quality of life; mapping; utility