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The relationship between productivity and health-related QOL

An exploration

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Abstract

In economic evaluation of healthcare programmes both QOL and productivity of patients are aspects to be studied. Normally, the former is part of the measurement of the effectiveness of the programme and the latter is part of the measurement of its costs. In this paper we highlight the relationship between QOL and productivity. Two aspects are discussed: (i) the relationship between perceived productivity and health-state valuations; and (ii) the observed relationship between productivity and QOL.

The first aspect relates to the fact that in health-state valuations, respondents may consider income changes and ability to work. While this may have important methodological and practical implications, little empirical evidence exists in this area. The second aspect relates to the fact that the observed productivity of individuals is expected to be related to their health-related QOL. Worse health states are expected to be associated with lower productivity. Again, empirical investigation is lacking; however, this relationship may prove important, for instance in modelling productivity costs with use of information on QOL. This paper explores these relationships between productivity and QOL to stimulate debate and research in this area.

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Notes

  1. Note that it is also possible that persons stay in a state of reduced productivity or are absent permanently. Furthermore, there may be relapses (e.g. persons who had returned to work but subsequently have to stay at home again because the level of impairment becomes higher again), which are not denoted in the figure for the sake of clarity.

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Acknowledgements

The funding of the Dutch Council for Health Care research (grant number 945-10-045) is gratefully acknowledged. Moreover, we thank Lex Burdorf, Karin Jacobs-Tacken, Marc Koopmanschap and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. The authors have no conflicts of interest directly relevant to the content of this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Medical Technology Assessment & Department of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus Medical Centre (University Medical Center Rotterdam), Room L4-121, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Werner B. F. Brouwer & Leida M. Lamers

  2. Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC (University Medical Center Rotterdam), Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Willem-Jan Meerding

  3. Department of Health Organisation, Policy and Economics, University Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Johan L. Severens

  4. Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Technology Assessment, University Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Johan L. Severens

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  1. Werner B. F. Brouwer
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  2. Willem-Jan Meerding
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  3. Leida M. Lamers
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  4. Johan L. Severens
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Correspondence to Werner B. F. Brouwer.

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Brouwer, W.B.F., Meerding, WJ., Lamers, L.M. et al. The relationship between productivity and health-related QOL. Pharmacoeconomics 23, 209–218 (2005). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200523030-00002

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