QALYs and HYEs (healthy year equivalents): under what conditions are they equivalent?

Abstract

The paper examines what restrictions have to be imposed on the individual's preference structure for QALYs and HYEs to yield identical results. It is shown that using QALYs involves imposing three additional restrictions. Empirical evidence suggests that these restrictions cannot be expected to hold in all applications. The main problem in using HYEs appears to be practical. An alternative index is proposed, that may help to bridge the gap between QALYs and HYEs by combining to some extent the advantages of the two measures.