OBJECTIVES : Given the vital role of health-state utilities (HSUs) in CUA and HTA decision making process, the aim of this study is to summarize the characteristics of HSU data used in CUAs in Asia over the past decades.

METHODS : A systematic literature search was performed to identify published CUA studies targeting Asian populations. Extraction of the HSU data characteristics was restricted to the HSU data used in the base-case analysis of each study. For each HSU value identified, data was extracted for five key characteristics, including 1) source (published literature, unpublished empirical data, or expert opinions); 2) valuation method (PBM, direct valuation, mapping); 3) source of preferences; 4) source of HRQoL data; and 5) sample size.

RESULTS : The studies included in this review were published from 1999 to 2019, with most from China or Japan (n=377, 47.8％), and for assessing therapy interventions (n=576, 73.0％), such as pharmaceutical and surgical interventions. Overall, of the 4,052 HSU values identified, 3,351 (82.7%) were referenced from published literature, 656 (16.2%) used unpublished empirical data, and 45 (1.1%) were based on expert opinions or unspecified source. Most of the HSUs (n=2,651, 65.4%) were reported without providing information on their valuation methods used. For the majority of the HSU values, source of preferences (92.2%), source of HRQoL data (80.4%), and sample size (84.1%) were not reported. Of the 1,349 HSU values obtained by PBMs, EQ-5D (n=781, 57.9%) was the most used method.

CONCLUSIONS : There is a growing number of CUA publications targeting Asian populations in the past two decades. The majority of the studies used HSU values derived from the published literature, but without conducting a proper review. Poor reporting quality poses a major challenge since the choices of HSU values could impact on the results of CUA studies.