A proposed method for monitoring U.S. population health

"We propose a method of quantifying non-fatal health that details the mechanisms through which chronic conditions affect health. Self-rated health status and time-tradeoff ratings of current health are regressed on impairments and symptoms from the Quality of Well-Being Scale, using OLS regression and ordered probit. This yields estimates of their effects analogous to disutility weights but not based on counterfactual scenarios, and accounts for complex non-additive relationships. Data are from 1420 adults age 45-89 in the Beaver Dam Health Outcomes Study. Chronic condition weights and summary measures of health are derived, laying the groundwork for a detailed national summary measure of health"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.