Table 1 Types of problems emerging when using QALY for the older population, indicated in the studies

1.Lower life expectancy (LE) causes lower QALY gains (LE)

YoL

17

[11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]

2.Equal value of one QALY regardless of age (Q = Q)

Non specific

16

[19, 20, 24, 26, 28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39]

3.Poorer average health state causes lower QALY gains in QoL component (QoL)

QoL

8

[14, 17, 18, 26, 36, 39,40,41]

4.QoL measure instrument inadequacy (Instr.)

QoL

7

[15, 17, 26, 31, 40, 42, 43]

5. Health-related QoL measured regardless of age, while different attributes/attribute measurements are important for older people (Attrib.)

QoL

5

[20, 24, 38, 40, 44]

6.No beyond-health QoL aspects taken into account (B-HA)

QoL

4

[14, 40, 45, 46]