An approach to measuring and valuing health states

An approach to measuring health with respect to a set of 12 dimensions representing perceived health, physiological and social functioning is suggested. Each dimension is divided into four or five discrete levels. Health states are defined as mutually exclusive combinations of the levels on the dimensions. This classification of health states is disease-independent, quite sensitive and valid in the sense that it reflects the concept of health underlying Finnish health policy, but is likely to be of equal relevance in other societies.

In an experiment to elicit empirical values for health states, a non-random sample of the general public, consisting of hospital patients and ‘healthy’ non-health professionals was used. Based on self-administered questionnaires, two scaling techniques, a magnitude method and a category method, were applied. For each subject the type of questionnaire was determined randomly.

When judged in the light of the understandability of the questions involved and difficulty in answering them, there was no significant difference in the feasibility between the methods. As to the values the methods produced closely comparable and relatively reliable results. The first experiences gained from the approach suggest that it is a viable one and worth testing and developing further.