Which pharmacoeconomic methodology measures consequences of an intervention using quality adjusted life years?

Which pharmacoeconomic methodology measures consequences of an intervention using quality adjusted life years?

• A. Cost of Illness Study
• B. Cost Benefit Analysis
• C. Cost Utility Analysis
• D. Cost Minimization Analysis

Answer: (C)

Quality-adjusted life years are the metric that blends both how long someone lives and how well they live, using a utility value that reflects health-related quality of life. In pharmacoeconomic evaluations, this lets you compare different interventions on a common scale that captures both survival and quality of life. Cost-Utility Analysis is built around these QALYs, calculating outcomes by multiplying the time gained in a health state by the quality weight for that state. For example, one year lived in a health state valued at 0.8 quality equals 0.8 QALYs. This approach directly measures the consequences of an intervention in terms that include patient experience, making it ideal for comparing diverse treatments. The other methods don’t use QALYs to quantify consequences. Cost of Illness assesses the burden of a disease, not the value of a specific intervention’s outcomes. Cost-Benefit Analysis translates effects into monetary units, not quality-adjusted life, and Cost Minimization assumes identical outcomes and focuses only on costs.

Quality-adjusted life years are the metric that blends both how long someone lives and how well they live, using a utility value that reflects health-related quality of life. In pharmacoeconomic evaluations, this lets you compare different interventions on a common scale that captures both survival and quality of life.

Cost-Utility Analysis is built around these QALYs, calculating outcomes by multiplying the time gained in a health state by the quality weight for that state. For example, one year lived in a health state valued at 0.8 quality equals 0.8 QALYs. This approach directly measures the consequences of an intervention in terms that include patient experience, making it ideal for comparing diverse treatments.

The other methods don’t use QALYs to quantify consequences. Cost of Illness assesses the burden of a disease, not the value of a specific intervention’s outcomes. Cost-Benefit Analysis translates effects into monetary units, not quality-adjusted life, and Cost Minimization assumes identical outcomes and focuses only on costs.