Valuing QALYs at the end of life

In survey 1 mean WTP was higher for life extending treatments than for temporary health problems and the majority of respondents prioritised life extension over temporary health problems in response to the PTO questions. In survey 2 mean WTP was higher for palliative care than for temporary health problems and 83% prioritized palliative care (for both durations) in the PTO questions. In survey 3 WTP values were higher for palliative care than for life extending treatments and more than 60% prioritized palliative care in the PTO questions. Our results suggest that QALYs gained from EoL treatments have a higher social value than QALYs gained from treatments for temporary health problems. Further, we found that people attach greater weight to improvements in quality of life than to life extension at the end of life.