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. 2019 Mar;98(9):e14647.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000014647.

Health utilities in cancer patients: A study protocol for a prospective, longitudinal cohort using online survey

Thomas G Poder  1 , Nathalie Carrier  2 , Nathalie McFadden  3 , Michel Pavic  4
Affiliations

Health utilities in cancer patients: A study protocol for a prospective, longitudinal cohort using online survey

Thomas G Poder et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Cost-utility analysis (CUA) is becoming more commonly used in healthcare decision-making. CUA uses the quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) metric, which combines the length of life with the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Most QALY-measuring instruments were validated for general populations. For patients with cancer, the perception of their health state is different and may vary by the type of cancer considered. In Quebec, no preference weights for QALY have been developed, neither for the general population nor particular subpopulations.

Methods/design: This survey is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study. The study objectives are: to assess the extent of difference in health utilities between the general population and patients with breast or colorectal cancer; to develop a QALY preference weights dataset for patients with cancer; and to perform "mapping" with different HRQoL questionnaires by correlating the SF-6Dv2 with the EQ-5D-5L, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30, and functional assessment of cancer therapy - general questionnaires. Data will be collected via a self-administered online survey. Patients' health utilities will be measured within 2 days before the beginning of a chemotherapy treatment cycle and about 8 days after the start of the chemotherapy. Health utilities will be measured by a hybrid method using the time-trade-off and discrete choice experiment methods.

Ethics and dissemination: The proposed research was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Research Ethics Review Boards of the CHUS. We will disseminate our study findings through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Health state card. This is an example of health state card. There will be 3 intermediate health state cards—a perfect health state card (111111), a worst health state card (555655), and a card for immediate death. The respondent will rank them from 1 to 6, where 1 is the best health state condition and 6 is the worst health state condition or death.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Health state card using the time-trade-off (TTO) choice method. Respondents have to make a choice between 2 health states (ie, a perfect health state [choice A] and an intermediate health state [choice B]) by varying the life span in the perfect health state.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Health state card using the time-trade-off (TTO) choice method. Choice B is a combination of the perfect health state and the intermediate health state.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The sequence of choice using the time-trade-off (TTO) choice method. Red arrows represent choice A and blue ones choice B. The figure was adapted from Oppe et al.[40]
Figure 5
Figure 5
Health state cards choice using the discrete choice experiment (DCE) method.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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