Science today makes progress through the imaginative harvesting of knowledge g- erated by the many, rather than as the result of the isolated endeavours of the lone researcher. Innovations in the physical sciences from the development of nuclear te- nologies to the laser, have involved research teams working collectively. Collabo- tion is the rule rather than the exception. In the social sciences this model is all but reversed. Here it is not uncommon to encounter the solitary enthusiast, relishing an independence of spirit and pursuing their own private research agenda. All the more surprising then that a group of researchers from several different disciplines, should have come together in the late 1980s with nothing more substantial on the agenda than that they share their thoughts on the topic of measuring the value of health, or more specifically, on the way that the value of health might vary across different countries. Few scientific enterprises can have begun as cautiously or uncertainly. Few can have developed a cohesion and dynamism that lasted decades and continues to drive ahead after long years of scientific endeavour. Such is the good fortune that befell those of us who came together to form what was later to be known as the Euro- Qol Group. The Group's creation is principally due to the shared professional asso- ation of its members with one man, an economist by training and a visionary academic by inclination and temperament - Alan Williams.

There are not enough resources in health care systems around the world to fund all technically feasible and potentially beneficial health care interventions. Difficult choices have to be made, and economic evaluation offers a systematic and transparent process for informing such choices. A key component of economic evaluation is how to value the benefits of health care in a way that permits comparison between health care interventions, such as through costs per quality-adjusted life years (QALY). Measuring and Valuing Health Benefits for Economic Evaluation examines the measurement and valuation of health benefits, reviews the explosion of theoretical and empirical work in the field, and explores an area of research that continues to be a major source of debate. It addresses the key questions in the field including: the definition of health, the techniques of valuation, who should provide the values, techniques for modelling health state values, the appropriateness of tools in children and vulnerable groups, cross cultural issues, and the problem of choosing the right instrument. This new edition contains updated empirical examples and practical applications, which help to clarify the readers understanding of real world contexts. It features a glossary containing the common terms used by practitioners, and has been updated to cover new measures of health and wellbeing, such as ICECAP, ASCOT and AQOL. It takes into account new research into the social weighting of a QALY, the rising use of ordinal valuation techniques, use of the internet to collect data, and the use of health state utility values in cost effectiveness models. This is an ideal resource for anyone wishing to gain a specialised understanding of health benefit measurement in economic evaluation, especially those working in the fields of health economics, public sector economics, pharmacoeconomics, health services research, public health, and quality of life research.

BE REASONABLE: DO IT MY WAY! The sign on Alan Williams' desk revealed his sense of humour, a man who invited and relished debate, but always recognising that intellectual pursuits were a means to a practical end. Perhaps best known for his work within cost-benefit analysis, Alan Williams was a man of principles who developed guiding values in healthcare economics that embraced and encouraged active intellectual engagement and progression. He was concerned with the philosophical and ethical issues that underpin decision making and his courageous intellectual battles bore new ideas and revised ideology. This compilation of papers and further discussions arising from the Alan Williams tribute conference provides an analysis of the evolution and current status of key concepts in the field. It is highly recommended for health economics professionals and students.

This open access book is the first published guide about how to analyse data produced by the EQ-5D, one of the most widely used Patient Reported Outcomes questionnaires world wide. The authors provide practical, clear and comprehensive guidance in five concise chapters. Following an overview of the EQ-5D and its analysis, we describe how the questionnaire data – the EQ-5D profile and EQ VAS – can be analysed in different ways to generate important insights into peoples’ health. We then show how the value sets which accompany the EQ-5D can be applied to summarise patients’ data. The final chapter deals with advanced topics, including the use of Minimally Important Differences, case-mix adjustment, mapping, and more. This book is essential for those new to analyzing EQ-5D data and will be also be valuable for those with more experience. The methods can be applied to any EQ-5D instrument (for example, the three- and five-level and Youth versions) and many of the methods described will be equally relevant to other Patient Reported Outcomes instruments.

For many years, the need to develop valid tools to evaluate signs and symptoms of Parkinson Disease (PD) has been present. However the understanding of all intricacies of rating scales development was not widely available and the first attempts were relatively crude. In 2002, the Movement Disorders Society created a task force to systemize the measurement of Parkinson's Disease. Since then, the Task Force has produced and published several critiques to the available rating scales addressing both motor and non-motor domains of Parkinson Disease. Additionally the task force initiated a project to develop a new version of the UPDRS, the MDS-UPDRS. But none of this was made available in one convenient source. Until now. Rating Scales in Parkinson's Disease is written for researchers from the medical and social sciences, and for health professionals wishing to evaluate the progress of their patients suffering from Parkinson Disease. The book is both exhaustive in the description of the scales and informative on the advantages and limitations of each scale. As such, the text clearly guides readers on how to choose and use the instruments available. Extensive cross-referenced tables and charts closely integrate the parts of the book to facilitate readers in moving from one symptom domain to another.

A comprehensive methods text describing the variety of approaches available in the assessment and evaluation of health and medical care. The text not only describes the principles of randomized controlled trials, case control studies, cohort studies and social surveys but also the value of qualitative methods in gaining an understanding of healthcare. Chapters are also included on the principles and problems of measuring outcomes in terms of patient satisfaction and quality of life, and assessing the economic value of treatments. The specific methodological problems of screening are discussed, and a final chapter outlines the issues surrounding meta-analysis and systematic reviews.