Utility Weights for Allergic Rhinitis Based on a Community Survey with a Time Trade-off Technique in Japan

Abstract

Background: Allergic rhinitis is not a fatal disease, but its symptoms deteriorate the quality of life. High morbidity raises a concern about its impact on health care resources. Utility weights, which are required for cost-utility analysis by the level of severity, have not been established to date. This study aims to derive the weights based on a community survey with a time trade-off technique.
Methods: Self-administered monthly time trade-off questionnaires were administered to representative samples in the community. Four levels of severity were defined by clinical stratification proposed in the "Practical Guideline for the Management of Allergic Rhinitis in Japan".
Results: 146 responses (response rate: 51.0%) were collected. Utility weights by the four levels of severity were found to be 0.96, 0.94, 0.89 and 0.83, from mild to severest symptoms, respectively. These values were found to be statistically independent from the respondent's characteristics such as sex, age, existence of current nasal symptoms or history of allergic rhinitis.
Conclusions: The authors consider that the elicited utility weights are reliable. The results of this study could facilitate economic evaluations regarding allergic rhinitis in various contexts, contributing to better management of the disease.