Table 1.

Health state descriptions

Attribute	State A	State B	State C
Pain	Mr Smith has very little or no pain, and it is easily controlled by medication	Mr Smith has a bearable amount of pain and it is moderately well controlled by medication	Mr Smith has a great deal of pain much of the time, and it is not well controlled by medication, or the side effects of the medication to control pain are very unpleasant
Mood	He hardly ever feels tense, worried, irritable, sad, or depressed (only once or twice a month or even less)	He feels tense, worried, irritable, sad, or depressed sometimes (only once or twice a week)	He feels tense, worried, irritable, sad or depressed much of the time (almost every day)
Sexual function	His ability to have sex and enjoy it has been affected very little by his condition	His ability to have sex and enjoy it has been affected a fair amount by his condition	His ability to have sex and enjoy it has been affected very much by his condition
Bladder and bowel function	He rarely has difficulties or problems with urinating or bowel function (only once or twice a month or even less)	He has occasional difficulties or problems with urinating or bowel function (only once or twice a week)	He has frequent difficulties or problems with urinating or bowel function (almost every day)
Fatigue/energy	He is able to do most of his usual activities nearly all of the time. He is not overly tired and his energy is pretty good	He has some difficulty doing his usual activities. He does less than before, and he is tired quite a bit of the time. He needs some assistance with some daily activities (e.g. dressing, washing, using the toilet)	He has a lot of trouble doing most usual activities, both at work and at home. He needs a lot of assistance with many daily activities (e.g. dressing, washing, using the toilet). He is very tired much of the time and he spends a lot of time resting
Appetite	Usually good	Sometimes poor	Usually poor