HALE (Health Adjusted Life Expectancy)

1. Description

The summary of all individual QALYs in a population is known as the HALE (Health Adjusted Life Expectancy).[1][2]

2. Evaluation

2.1 Principle

• HALE is simply a summary of individual QALYs in a population.

• Standard statistical analysis can be applied to estimate the benefit-risk balance, as well as the difference of these balances between different treatments.

2.2 Features

• A sensitivity analysis can be performed on the derivation of QoL, since weights or utilities of different criteria appear only in the derivation.

• Incorporating multiple sources of data requires meta-analysis given that they are derived in the same way in all sources.

2.3 Visualisation

• Visualisations similar to the one used for QALYs may be used.

2.4 Assessability and accessibility

• HALEs are considered as the average preference.

• HALEs may be 'risk-neutral'.

3. References

[1] Weinstein MC, Torrance G, McGuire A. QALYs: the basics. Value Health 2009 Mar;12 Suppl 1:S5-S9.
[2] Pliskin JS, Shepard DS, Milton CW. Utility Functions for Life Years and Health Status. Operations Research 1980 Jan 1;28(1):206-24.
[3] Heller RF, Dobson AJ, Attia J, Page J. Impact numbers: measures of risk factor impact on the whole population from case-control and cohort studies. J Epidemiol Community Health 2002 Aug;56(8):606-10.