HEDS is part of the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield. We undertake research, teaching, training and consultancy on all aspects of health related decision science, with a particular emphasis on health economics, HTA and evidence synthesis.

Wednesday, 23 February 2022

The QALY at 50: One story many voices

ScHARR colleagues Professor Aki Tsuchiya and Dr Ruth Wong have collaborated on a paper that explores the impact and celebrates two seminal papers that shaped early QALY development.

Highlights from the paper

Two seminal papers from North America define the QALY we know today.

Systematic searches identified 716 papers citing both these seminal papers.

Co-citation analysis and visualisations highlight a range of methodological topics.

Behavioural theories are shown to inform research into how we get the numbers.

Research is also needed on what the numbers mean and what aspects to incorporate.

Spencer, A., Rivero-Arias, O., Wong, R., Tsuchiya, A., Bleichrodt, H., Edward, R. T., & Clarke, P. (2021). The QALY at 50: One story many voices. Social Science & Medicine, 114653.


There's also an accompanying interview of George Torrance, the father (or one of the fathers) of the QALY: