Health States Utility Value in COVID-19

Abstract Background: The main aim of the study was extract the health utility value of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease.Methods: In a cross-sectional study in Iran, 320 randomly selected treated patients from COVID-19 is studied. To collect the required data, we applied a questionnaire that included socio-demographic factors, clinical characteristics, and questions on the patients’ Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). Time trade-off (TTO) approach is used to measure the lost HRQoL attributed to COVID-19. Besides, we applied a two-limit Tobit regression model to determine the effects of the socio-demographic factors on the patients’ health utility and used the visual analogue scale approach to estimate the perceived total current health status.Results: The overall mean (SE) and median (IQR) of the health utility values were 0.863 (0.01) and 0.909 (0.21), respectively. This values for those who were willing to trade time in exchange for perfect health estimated at 0.793 (0.01) and 0.848 (0.17), respectively. The lowest amount of utility value were belonged to the elderly (mean (SE) = 0.742 (0.04); median (IQR) = 0.765 (0.42)) and those lived in rural (mean (SE)) = 0.804 (0.03); median (IQR) = 0.877 (0.30)). The univariate analysis shows that age, location living, and household size factors have a statistically significant effect on the health utility. The regression model's findings indicate that the participants' age and hospitalization status were the key determinants of COVID-19 health utility value.Conclusion: COVID-19 is associated with a substantial and measurable diminution in HRQoL. This diminution in HRQoL can be directly compared with that induced by systemic health states.