On the discounting of gained life-years in cost-effectiveness analysis.

A controversial issue in cost-effectiveness analysis is the discounting of gained life-years. What has not been realized, however, is that the different methods used for discounting this measurement provide fundamentally different results. The method used is seldom explicitly stated. In the present article the four main methods for the discounting of gained life-years are reviewed and compared. The conclusion is that if we wish to continue comparing results, researchers must employ the same methodology.