A note on the relationship between age and health-related quality of life assessment

PURPOSE: To extend existing analyses of whether and how the age of respondents is related to their time trade-off (TTO) valuations of hypothetical EQ-5D-3L health states, and to contribute to the existing debate about the rationale and implications for using age-specific utilities in health technology assessment (HTA). METHODS: We use data from the MVH UK valuation study. For each profile, the mean TTO value—adjusted by sex, education, self-reported health and personal experience of serious illness—is pairwise compared across the different age groups. A Bonferroni correction is applied to the multiple testing of significant differences between means. Smile plots illustrate the results. A debate regarding whether there is a case for using age-specific utilities in HTAs complements the analysis. RESULTS: Results show that the oldest respondents value health profiles lower than younger age groups, particularly for profiles describing problems in the mobility dimension. CONCLUSION: The findings raise the possibility of using age-specific value sets in HTAs, since a technology may not be cost-effective on average but cost-effective for a sub-group whose preferences are more closely aligned to the benefits offered by the technology. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11136-018-2071-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.