Table 1 Summary of the base case

Type of economic evaluation

Cost-effectiveness analysis

Perspective on costs

Public sector, including the NHS and PSS

Perspective on outcomes

All health effects on individuals

Evidence on outcomes

Simultaneous synthesis of evidence of multiple interventions

Measure of health effects

Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs)

Main source of data for measurement of health related quality of life (HRQL)

Reported directly by patients (Medical Care Research Unit, University of Sheffield: Long Term Health and Healthcare outcomes of Accidental Injury study (HALO). Unpublished report for the Department of Health))

Source of preference data for valuation of changes in HRQL

Representative sample of the public (UK Population norms [22])

Discount rate

An annual rate of 3.5% was used on both costs and health effects

Equity weighting

An additional QALY has the same weight, regardless of the characteristics of the individuals who gain the health benefit

Size of the cohort simulated

100,000

Time horizon

100 years - until population all dead in order to account for all outcomes