Self-reported cost of illness and health-related quality of life.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate how well a rapid, self-report of the costs of illness correlates with health-related quality of life.

Methods: A total of 211 patients, participating in a clinical trial of an arthritis medication, completed a Quality of Well-being scale interview and an 18-item self-assessment of healthcare utilization. Subjects completed both these instruments at each of three time points during the trial.

Results: Correlations between the measures and across time suggest that patient-reported costs are associated with quality of life and function.

Conclusions: A self-reported cost of illness measure may provide valuable information. With the increase move to assess cost as well as health outcomes, such rapid self-report techniques may prove useful to health services researchers, healthcare system managers, and clinicians.