This month’s meeting will take place Monday 3rd December, at 8pm London time. That’ll be midday in Los Angeles and 7am on Tuesday in Sydney. Join the Facebook event here. For more information about the Health Economics Twitter Journal Club and how to take part, click here.
The paper for discussion this month is published as an Online First article in Quality of Life Research and the authors are Hareth Al-Janabi and colleagues. The title of the paper is:
“An investigation of the construct validity of the ICECAP-A capability measure”
Following the meeting, a transcript of the discussion can be downloaded here.
Links to the article
Official: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11136-012-0293-5 [open access]
RePEc: tbc
Other: tbc
Summary of the paper
This study investigates the construct validity of the ICECAP-A capability measure, using face-to-face interviews with the UK general population. 418 participants were randomly selected from the Postcode Address File and were presented with the ICECAP-A measure and a series of contextual questions relating to socio-demographics, material well-being, major life events, happiness, religiosity, health, use of health care and perceptions of freedom. The authors developed hypotheses about the expected associations between individuals’ responses to the ICECAP-A measure and these contextual factors. Their hypotheses were investigated using statistical tests of association. ICECAP-A responses and scores reflected differences across different health and socio-economic groups, but did not distinguish individuals by the level of local deprivation. The authors found that mean ICECAP-A scores reflected individuals’ perceived freedom more closely than did measures of health and happiness. This study suggests that the ICECAP-A measure can identify expected differences in capability well-being in a general population sample.
Discussion points
- Are the authors’ pre-determined hypotheses appropriate and sufficient?
- Are the contextual factors defined such that they isolate capabilities from functioning?
- Is the scope of capability appropriately defined?
- To what extent could the ICECAP-A inform allocation decisions in health care?
Missed the meeting? Add your thoughts on the paper in the comments below.
