Guidance for the Consistent Application of Appropriate Analytical Methods
Princeton, NJ—February 14, 2017—The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (
ISPOR) published a new Task Force Report, “
Mapping to Estimate Health-State Utility from Non–Preference-Based Outcome Measures: An ISPOR Good Practices for Outcomes Research Task Force Report,” by the Society’s
Measurement of Health-State Utility Values for Economic Models in Clinical Studies Task Force in the January 2017 issue of
Value in Health.
Health-state utility is a metric used by health economists to measure a patient’s overall health status, or wellbeing, and is one of the measurements that can be used to help demonstrate a health benefit that a treatment may have for patients. However, clinical trials typically measure disease-specific outcomes, including patient reported outcomes. “Mapping” is a systematic approach that allows research analysts to bridge the gap between clinical trial evidence and the metrics required for economic evaluation.
This new Task Force Report provides guidance for the consistent application of appropriate analytical methods in the analysis, reporting, and use of health-utility data in mapping studies. These recommendations cover all areas of mapping practice—from the selection of datasets and outcomes measures for the mapping estimation, to the appropriate use and application of the results. The report provides recommendations for those who conduct mapping studies, use the results in economic evaluations, and/or need to critically review and interpret the results.
“Our goal is to increase the overall understanding of the strengths, limitations, and potential for bias in mapped health-utility estimates,” said lead author Allan Wailoo, PhD, MA, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. “Provided that mapping analyses are undertaken appropriately, reported transparently, and their results used appropriately, decision makers can be confident in the validity of estimates obtained in this manner.”
This report is the second Task Force Report on health-state utilities estimation developed under the ISPOR Vision 2020 initiative, which identified “estimating health-state utilities for cost-effectiveness analysis” as one of the top two priorities for the development of good research practices guidance, to address the lack of guidance in this area. The first report, “
Estimating Health-State Utility for Economic Models in Clinical Studies: An ISPOR Good Research Practices Task Force Report,” was published in the September/October 2016 issue of
Value in Health and made recommendations for estimating health-state utility for economic models in clinical studies.
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ABOUT ISPOR GOOD PRACTICES FOR OUTCOMES RESEARCH TASK FORCE REPORTS
ISPOR has earned an international reputation for research excellence based, in part, on its
Good Practices for Outcomes Research Task Force Reports. These highly cited reports are expert consensus guideline recommendations on good practice standards for outcomes research (clinical, economic, and patient-reported outcomes) and on the use of this research in health care decision making.
ISPOR Task Forces are comprised of subject matter experts representing different stakeholders from diverse work environments (i.e., regulators, payers, manufacturers, technology assessors, etc. from research, government, academic, and industry sectors around the world). All ISPOR Good Practices for Outcomes Research Task Force Reports are published in the Society’s scientific journal,
Value in Health, and are made freely available as open access articles as part of the Society’s mission.