Question

5. Treatment for endocarditis is risky. The patient will (a) die in the hospital, (b) partially recover, or (c) fully recover. With full recovery, the patient can expect to live for another 20 years, but only 25 percent of patients fully recover. With partial recovery, the patient can expect to live 10 more years. However, 20 percent of patients die in the hospital. Assuming patients usually live just one year without treatment, what is the expected value of the treatment expressed as additional years of life? (2 points)

Answer 1

Endocarditis is a life-threatening condition where the chances of survival for a patient is highly negative and even if the patient survives, it is for a very few years. As per the given condition, the patient who is suffering from endocarditis will either fully recover, or partially recover or will die in the hospital. If the patient recovers fully than the patient may live for about 25 more years, however, the chances of full recovery is only 25%. If the patient recovers partially, then he may expect to live for about 10 more years, however the chances of death in the hospital is also 20%. If the patient lives without treatment, then his expected life tenancy would be about 1 year. In this situation, the value of treatment is very high, as the patient would want to desperately survive. If his treatment goes well, the patient would want be in the bracket of 25% where he has the chance to live for 20 more years. If he cannot recover fully, the patient would at least be among the next 55 people who recover partially and are able t o survive for the next 10 years.