OBJECTIVE: With an estimated prevalence in Canada between 206,000 and 280,000 persons infected with the virus, persons with hepatitis B typically progress through increasingly severe disease states before death. The objective was to estimate preferences (ratings and utility weights) for six hepatitis B-related disease states among uninfected persons. METHODS: Three hepatologists characterized the typical effects of symptoms on health-related quality of life in terms of symptoms, frequency of tests, hospitalizations, procedures, and dimensions of health such as pain, ability for self-care, activities of daily living, psychological well-being and future outlook. From a convenience sample of 100 uninfected persons in Canada, we elicited ratings using a visual analog scale based on a ‘feeling' thermometer and standard gamble utility weights using probability wheels with 2-color pie charts for the relative probabilities of perfect health and death. RESULTS: The mean age was 42 years (standard deviation (SD): 14.8, range: 18 to 80 years) and 29% were male. Mean utilities were: 0.80 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.76; 0.83) for chronic hepatitis B; 0.79 (CI: 0.75; 0.83) for compensated cirrhosis; 0.41 (CI: 0.35; 0.46) for decompensated cirrhosis; 0.69 (CI: 0.65; 0.74) for the first year after liver transplant; 0.77 (CI: 0.73; 0.80) for subsequent years after liver transplant; and, 0.45 (CI: 0.40; 0.51) for hepatocellular carcinoma. The values using the visual analog scale were lower than utilities elicited using the standard gamble, but the relative ranking of each health state did not change. CONCLUSION: All six hepatitis B-related health states are associated with substantial loss of quality-of-life, with uninfected persons perceiving that decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma causing the most severe drop in utility. This information provides a means of making a direct comparison between health states and estimating quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for use in an incremental cost-utility analysis.