Table I.

Summary of research methods used to determine patient preferences³⁴

Method		Involves
Name	Description	Uncertainty?	Trade-off between health states?
Ranking or weighting
	Individuals rank or rate a preference for a set of alternative cancer treatments on a scale.	No	No
Standard gamble
	Individuals choose to gamble between perfect health (for a given time) and immediate death or a certainty of living in an intermediate health state between perfect health and certain death (for the same given time)	Yes	Yes
Time trade-off
	Individuals choose between either an intermediate health state for a time, followed by death or perfect health for a variably less time, followed by death	No	Yes
Visual analogue scale
	Individuals choose a preference for a health state on a line with anchors at either end for perfect health and death respectively.	No	No
Discrete choice experiment
	Cancer treatments are broken down into key attributes. Individuals then choose between scenarios that describe a health state using varying levels of those attributes. The treatment preference is evaluated by how an individual rates the attributes.	No	Yes
Multi-attribute utility instrument
	Individuals complete a generic health-related quality-of-life instrument. Population preference values are then used to convert the scores into a utility score.	No	No