The effects of lead time and visual aids in TTO valuation: a study of the EQ-VT framework

Abstract

BackgroundThe effect of lead time in time trade-off (TTO) valuation is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on health-state valuation of the length of lead time and the way the lead-time TTO task is displayed visually.MethodsUsing two general population samples, we compared three lead-time TTO variants: 10 years of lead time in full health preceding 5 years of unhealthy time (standard); 5 years of lead time preceding 5 years of unhealthy time (experimental); and 10 years of lead time and 5 years of unhealthy time, presented with a visual aid to highlight the point where the lead time ends (experimental). Participants were randomized to receive one of the lead-time variants, as administered by a computer software program.ResultsHealth-state values generated by TTO valuation tasks using a longer lead time were slightly lower than those generated by tasks using a shorter lead time. When lead time and unhealthy time were presented with visual aids highlighting the difference between the lead time and unhealthy time, respondents spent more time considering health states with a value close to 0.ConclusionsDifferent lead-time time trade-off variants should be carefully studied in order to achieve the best measurement of health-state values using this new method.

US Valuation of Health Outcomes Measured Using the PROMIS-29

“…(35) DCEs without adaption were applied in this study as an attempt build from valuation studies in other fields (e.g., conjoint analysis) and to measure health preferences in the community using the internet.…”

Do Chinese have similar health-state preferences? A comparison of mainland Chinese and Singaporean Chinese

“…In both sites, participants were randomized to one arm and one block of health states (n = 5). The TTO tasks in the standard arm were the same for the two sites but had some differences in the experimental arm which were reported elsewhere [21]. Only the data collected from the standard arm was used in the current study.…”

“…In this case, the current valuation task would end and a new task for a different health state would start. How the x values changed has been reported elsewhere [21]. Briefly, the first two values of x were 15 and 10 years.…”

EuroQol Protocols for Time Trade-Off Valuation of Health Outcomes

“…Nowadays, due to developments in technology, online data collection has become very popular, as it can substantially reduce the costs of conducting a valuation study. Studies conducted by the EuroQol Group on the impact of administration mode on TTO data collection showed that group-based interviews and online data collection resulted in a substantially larger proportion of respondents stating their point of indifference after just one or two steps in the iteration procedure than one-on-one personal interviews [ 15 , 26 – 28 ]. Because this is a clear indicator for a reduction in task comprehension and/or engagement of the respondents, the recently developed EuroQol protocols continue to be based on one-on-one personal interviews.…”