Hepatitis C virus in Asia: utility values based on the Short Form-36 questionnaire.

Utility data are important in Asia, where the need for health economic evaluations is growing. A literature review was conducted across international and local bibliographical databases in four languages to evaluate the utilities for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients in Asia. The results showed a lack of research on the humanistic burden of CHC in Asia. Using mapping, the estimated utilities for CHC patients in Asia ranged between 0.68 and 0.86. The utilities of CHC patients were lower than that of healthy controls, with the differences ranging between 0.032 and 0.261 units. On-treatment utility values declined by 0.07-0.13 units for subjects without sustained virological response and by 0.03-0.06 units for sustained virological response subjects. The results provide empirical data on utility values among CHC patients in Asia that can be used in future cost-effectiveness analysis or health technology assessment.