Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) represent the voice of the patient in drug and device evaluation. As such, the outcomes selected for evaluation must be relevant to the patient, and the instruments used to capture them must have sound measurement properties. This paper discusses the role of...

As total healthcare spending increases throughout the world, greater emphasis is being placed on research which demonstrates value for medical interventions, including new and existing pharmaceuticals. Pharmacoeconomic evaluations can assist manufacturers, insurers, clinicians, governmental...

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is common in the general population and is diagnosed based on patient-reported symptoms and clinical tests. Although clinical tests are available, significant percentages of patients report symptoms of heartburn and reflux despite negative endoscopies,...

Objective: To compare the healthcare costs and effects of budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler with those of budesonide and formoterol monotherapies, and placebo, in a multinational study in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute...

Outcome measures are increasingly used to assess the impact of diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD) from the patient's perspective. These measures, in the form of questionnaires to assess health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), are of 2 main kinds: generic and disease-specific. The former...

There are numerous methods available for assessing patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other forms of dementia. Quality-of-life (QOL) assessment is unique among these methods. The subjective nature of quality of life provides healthcare professionals with the opportunity of incorporating...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, disabling, inflammatory polyarthritis that affects patient well-being and QOL. Many disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are available for treating RA but patients are often refractory to treatment. The goal of treatment is to improve both...

This article reviews the general issues in valuing health states for use in cost-effectiveness analysis and the specific issues considered by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in its recent review of the methods of technology appraisal. The general issues are how...

Background: Chronic osteoarthritis (OA) pain impacts health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Objective: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and compare HR-QOL outcomes following treatment with once-daily push-pull Osmotic controlled-Release Oral delivery System (OROS) hydromorphone...

Alcoholism has the potential to impact on the quality of life (QOL) of an `alcoholic,' their family, and friends in both the short and long term. Consequently, increasing significance has been placed on understanding health issues from the patient's perspective, evaluating the patient's...