[Dictionary] Cost-Utility Analysis (CUA)

Cost-utility analysis (CUA) is the specific form of cost-effectiveness analysis that always measures health outcomes in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), combining survival and health-related quality of life into one utility-weighted unit, rather than in a natural clinical unit specific to one condition. Because every CUA uses the same QALY denominator, its results are directly comparable across otherwise unrelated disease areas -- which is why NICE and most other national health technology assessment (HTA) bodies designate CUA, not cost-effectiveness analysis generally, as their required reference-case method for a technology appraisal.