Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013:5:29-36.
doi: 10.2147/CEOR.S38062. Epub 2013 Jan 9.

Estimating the willingness to pay for a quality-adjusted life year in Thailand: does the context of health gain matter?

Affiliations

Estimating the willingness to pay for a quality-adjusted life year in Thailand: does the context of health gain matter?

Montarat Thavorncharoensap et al. Clinicoecon Outcomes Res. 2013.

Abstract

Background: This study aims to elicit the value of the willingness to pay (WTP) for a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and to examine the factors associated with the WTP for a QALY (WTP/QALY) value under the Thai health care setting.

Methods: A community-based survey was conducted among 1191 randomly selected respondents. Each respondent was interviewed face-to-face to elicit his/her health state preference in each of three pairs of health conditions: (1) unilateral and bilateral blindness, (2) paraplegia and quadriplegia, and (3) mild and moderate allergies. A visual analog scale (VAS) and time trade off (TTO) were used as the eliciting methods. Subsequently, the respondents were asked about their WTP for the treatment and prevention of each pair of health conditions by using a bidding-game technique.

Results: With regards to treatment, the mean WTP for a QALY value (WTP/QALY(treatment)) estimated by the TTO method ranged from 59,000 to 285,000 baht (16.49 baht = US$1 purchasing power parity [PPP]). In contrast, the mean WTP for a QALY value in terms of prevention (WTP/QALY(prevention)) was significantly lower, ranging from 26,000 to 137,000 baht. Gender, household income, and hypothetical scenarios were also significant factors associated with the WTP/QALY values.

Conclusion: The WTP/QALY values elicited in this study were approximately 0.4 to 2 times Thailand's 2008 GDP per capita. These values were in line with previous studies conducted in several different settings. This study's findings clearly support the opinion that a single ceiling threshold should not be used for the resource allocation of all types of interventions.

Keywords: ceiling threshold; health resource allocation; time trade off; visual analog scale.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Sloan FA. Valuing Health Care: Costs, Benefits, and Effectiveness of Pharmaceuticals and Other Medical Technologies. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1995.
    1. WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Investing in health for economic development Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2001.
    1. Grosse SD. Assessing cost-effectiveness in healthcare: history of the $50,000 per QALY threshold. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2008;8(2):165–178. - PubMed
    1. Hirth RA, Chernew ME, Miller E, et al. Willingness to pay for a quality-adjusted life year: in search of a standard. Med Decis Making. 2000;20(3):332–342. - PubMed
    1. Ubel P, Hirth RA, Chernew ME, et al. What is the price of life and why doesn’t it increase at the rate of inflation? Arch Intern Med. 2003;163(14):1637–1641. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources