THE EFFECT OF ASSESSMENT METHOD AND RESPONDENT POPULATION ON UTILITIES ELICITED FOR GAUCHER-DISEASE

Measured preferences have been reported to vary with the method of eli citation and respondent population surveyed. We elicited utilities for Gaucher disease using a multimedia implementation of the time trade-o ff, standard gamble, and a conceptually different, largely untested ap proach, the risk-risk trade-off, from those who are healthy, those wit h a chronic illness and those with Gaucher disease. The risk-risk trad e-off produced significantly lower utilities than the other two prefer ence assessment methods and had the poorest test-retest reliability. T he respondent's self-rated current health state utility was the most i mportant determinant of utility values elicited by the time trade-off and standard gamble for the hypothetical health states. Our results do not support the use of our implementation of the risk-risk trade-off method. In eliciting preferences for hypothetical health states from t he general population, the subjective rating of a respondent's own hea lth state should be considered in determining representative populatio n groups.