OBJECTIVES:

The aim of this study is to estimate utility weights for the newly developed Cerebral Palsy multi-attribute utility instrument, the Cerebral palsy- six dimensions (CP-6D), using a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE). The CP-6D was generated from the well-known cerebral palsy quality of life instrument the CPQOL, using factor and Rasch analysis. The CP-6D levels are described in five levels from very unhappy to very unhappy.

METHODS:

An online valuation survey of the Australian general population was conducted using a DCE. The DCE consisted of 240 health states, distributed in 20 blocks. To develop the choice set a combination of the health state from the CP-6D and duration spent in that health state (DCEtto) was used. To produce utility values for every health state described by the CP-6D, regression models such as conditional logit and mixed logit were fitted to the data.

RESULTS:

A total of 2,002 respondents completed the online survey. The sample was representative of the Australian general population in terms of age and gender. All the levels of each dimension were monotonic, so the worst level in each domain had the lower utility. The estimated utility values ranged from 1 to -0.582.

CONCLUSIONS:

The values estimated from this study will be useful for Health Technology Assessment and Cost Utility Analysis when making decisions to allocate resources to interventions and treatments for people with CP.