ReviewPharmacoEconomics2014
Estimating QALY gains in applied studies: a review of cost-utility analyses published in 2010.
Review in PharmacoEconomics, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 109 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
109 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cost per Opioid-Free Year: A Systematic Review and Summary Analysis.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2025Pooled it
- Quality of life among obstructive sleep apnoea patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of EQ-5D studies.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- DNA Methylation-Based Classification for Central Nervous System Tumours: A Health Technology Assessment.Ontario health technology assessment series · 2025Pooled it
- Return on investment of fracture liaison services: a systematic review and analysis.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2024Pooled it
- Feasibility of the EQ-5D in the elderly population: a systematic review of the literature.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of economic evaluation studies: data harmonisation and methodological issues.BMC health services research · 2022Pooled it
- Dimensions Used in Instruments for QALY Calculation: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Different Diseases Measured With the EQ-5D-5L: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- Do country-specific preference weights matter in the choice of mapping algorithms? The case of mapping the Diabetes-39 onto eight country-specific EQ-5D-5L value sets.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2018Pooled it
- Health-related quality of life as measured by the EQ-5D in the prevention, screening and management of cervical disease: A systematic review.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pragmatic randomized controlled trial comparing a complex telemedicine-based intervention with usual care in patients with chronic conditions.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2024Trial
- Experiences with telemedicine-based follow-up of chronic conditions: the views of patients and health personnel enrolled in a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.BMC health services research · 2024Trial
- Cost-Effectiveness of Unrelated Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation versus HLA-Haploidentical Related Bone Marrow Transplantation: Evidence from BMT CTN 1101.Transplantation and cellular therapy · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Cost-Effectiveness of Telemedicine in Remote Orthopedic Consultations: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Long-term health status as measured by EQ-5D among patients with metastatic breast cancer: comparison of first-line oral S-1 and taxane therapies in the randomized phase III SELECT BC trial.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2017Trial
- Cost-utility analysis comparing laparoscopic vs open aortobifemoral bypass surgery.Vascular health and risk management · 2017Trial
49 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Reimbursement agencies in several countries now require health outcomes to be measured in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), leading to an immense increase in publications reporting QALY gains. However, there is a growing concern that the various 'multi-attribute utility' (MAU) instruments designed to measure the Q in the QALY yield disparate values, implying that results from different instruments are incommensurable. By reviewing cost-utility analyses published in 2010, we aim to contribute to improved knowledge on how QALYs are currently calculated in applied analyses; how transparently QALY measurement is presented; and how large the expected incremental QALY gains are. We searched Embase, MEDLINE and NHS EED for all cost-utility analyses published in 2010. All analyses that had estimated QALYs gained from health interventions were included. Of the 370 studies included in this review, 48% were pharmacoeconomic evaluations. Active comparators were used in 71% of studies. The median incremental QALY gain was 0.06, which translates to 3 weeks in best imaginable health. The EQ-5D-3L is the dominant instrument used. However, reporting of how QALY gains are estimated is generally inadequate. In 55% of the studies there was no reference to which MAU instrument or direct valuation method QALY data came from. The methods used for estimating expected QALY gains are not transparently reported in published papers. Given the wide variation in utility scores that different methodologies may assign to an identical health state, it is important for journal editors to require a more transparent way of reporting the estimation of incremental QALY gains.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.