Understanding the effect of disease adaptation information on general population values for hypothetical health states

It has been recommended that economic evaluation of healthcare technologies should use values for hypothetical health states elicited from the general population rather than patients. The drawback is the general population may not consider the possibility of adapting to the impaired state. This study explored the extent to which the general population changes their initial values, and the factors that influenced this change, after being informed with different disease adaptation techniques. Three rheumatoid arthritis states were used for illustration. General population respondents from the United Kingdom initially valued the states. An adaptation exercise followed, where they listened to recordings of patients discussing how they adapted; they then valued the same states again. The differences between the valuations were examined using t-tests. A multivariate regression model was developed to assess the factors that impacted individuals to change their initial values. After undergoing the adaptation exercise, the respondents increased their values for the rheumatoid arthritis states. Younger and healthier individuals were more likely to increase their initial values after being informed.