BACKGROUND: The dead state can affect the value sets derived from discrete choice experiments (DCEs). Our aim was to empirically assess the direct impact of the immediate death state on health utilities using discrete choice experiment with time (DCE METHODS: A sample of the general population in Quebec, Canada, completed two approaches: DCE RESULTS: From 398 participants, a total of 348 participants were included for final analysis. The number of parameters with illogical consistency and non-significant coefficients was lower in DCE CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of the immediate death state directly within DCE increased utility values. This increase was higher when the immediate death was included in a sequence within a DCE