Methodologic challenges in the development of utility measures of health-related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis

Utility measures of health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) are unique in that they focus on patient preferences for alternative health conditions and combine benefit and toxicity into one number. This paper addresses the application of utility measurement techniques to assess HRQL in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). More specifically, the measurement issues and empirical evaluation strategies relevant to establishing the usefulness of utility measures …