RTI uses cookies to offer you the best experience online. By clicking “accept” on this website, you opt in and you agree to the use of cookies. If you would like to know more about how RTI uses cookies and how to manage them please view our Privacy Policy here. You can “opt out” or change your mind by visiting: http://optout.aboutads.info/. Click “accept” to agree.
A comparison of willingness to pay and quality-adjusted life-years
Bala, M., Wood, L., Zarkin, G., Norton, E., Gafni, A., & O'Brien, B. (1998). Valuing outcomes in health care: A comparison of willingness to pay and quality-adjusted life-years. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 51(8), 667-676. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0895-4356(98)00036-5
Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and willingness to pay (WTP) are two preference-based measures of health-related outcomes. In this article, we compare these two measures in eliciting individuals’ preferences for health outcomes associated with shingles. To collect the necessary preference data, we administered computer-interactive interviews to a sample of 65- to 70-year-olds. We found no significant correlation between QALYs and WTP across individuals. We discuss our findings and argue that our results raise questions about whether QALYs and WTP are equivalent preference-based measures of health outcomes.
