Do people have a preference for increasing or decreasing pain? An experimental comparison of psychological and economic measures in health related decision making

Scarce resources in the health care sector force decision makers to allocate treatments in a way that as much quality of life for as much people as possible is preserved. On an international level, the QALY concept is the most frequently used approach to measure quality of life. One important factor for the measurement of quality of life is a good understanding of patients' preferences. Such preferences include, among others, the development of well-being in the course of a treatment. The QALY concept, based on Rational Choice Theory, assumes patients to be neutral in terms of this course, in case that the overa…