Time to Tweak the TTO: But How?

Abstract

This paper examines the effect different specifications of the Time Tradeoff (TTO) task have on health state values. The new lead time TTO is compared to a method called lag time TTO, both in two time frames. We test whether the two methods yield comparable health state values and whether the relative importance of dimensions of health is stable between TTO specifications and health state durations. TTO tasks were applied online. Lag time TTO produced lower values than lead time TTO and the difference was larger in the longer time frame. The relative importance of different dimensions of health was affected by the duration of the health state.

Keywords: Time tradeoff, lead time TTO, lag time TTO, EQ-5D

JEL Classification: I10