Measuring the adverse effects of unnecessary hypertension drug therapy: QALYs vs HYE.

Avoiding the adverse effects of unnecessary drug therapy is one of the key objectives of those who advocate the use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABP). The use of a proper outcome measure to assess the effect of drug therapy on patients' lifetime quality of life is clearly of great importance. The purpose of this paper is to alert readers that the use of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained as a measure of outcome is likely to underestimate such effects. Another outcome measure is suggested, that of healthy years equivalent (HYE), which enables respondents to reveal their true range of preferences. A study is called for which involves actual measurement of individual preferences and uses the more powerful and sensitive measure of outcome (HYE).