Transforming latent utilities to health utilities: Can one function fit other countries?

Discrete choice experiment (DCE) is an attribute-based approach to collecting stated preference data that is rooted in the economic theory of random utility maximization. The simplest DCE presents two alternative choices which vary along some attributes. Participants are asked to indicate their preferred choice by taking into account all the attributes presented in the alternative choices. Compared to trade-off tasks, DCE is relatively easier as it doesn’t require quantifying the magnitude of preference of one choice over the other. Use of DCE in eliciting societal preference is much appealing at least from the practical perspective. However, the utilities derived based on responses to DCE are on an unknown scale (refer to as latent utilities), and thus are not directly usable for QALY calculations. The main objective of this study was to assess different methods of transforming latent utilities to health utilities using the EQ-5D-5L valuation studies in different countries.

This study was sponsored by the EuroQol Research Foundation and Dr. Feng Xie was the principal investigator.