The missing link: on the line between C and E

In this paper it is argued that the separation of elements associated with the time spent by the patient is not conducted in a consistent way. This is the case for income (for which there at least has been some attention) and for other time elements like lost unpaid work, leisure and role‐functioning. The use of general rather than specific preferences in health state assessments makes the separation of time‐elements into costs and effects difficult. While costs are calculated specifically for the patient group under study, effects are normally derived from preferences in the general public. The characteristics of these two groups in terms of (the opportunity of) spending time on activities need not coincide. The use of specific time‐group valuations of health states may be a good alternative to using general health state valuations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.