Preferences for long-term care services: Willingness to pay estimates derived from a discrete choice experiment

Ageing populations increase pressure on long-term care. Optimal resource allocation requires an optimal mix of care services based on costs and benefits. Contrary to costs, benefits remain largely unknown. This study elicits preferences in the general elderly population for long-term care services for varying types of patients.     

Girls’ preferences for HPV vaccination: A discrete choice experiment

A discrete choice experiment was developed to investigate if girls aged 12–16 years make trade-offs between various aspects of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, and to elicit the relative weight that girls’ place on these characteristics. Degree of protection against cervical cancer, protection duration, risk of side-effects, and age of vaccination, all proved to influence girls’ preferences for HPV vaccination. We found that girls were willing to trade-off 38% protection against cervical cancer to obtain a lifetime protection instead of a protection duration of 6 years, or 17% to obtain an HPV vaccination with a 1 per 750,000 instead of 1 per 150,000 risk of serious side-effects. We conclude that girls indeed made a trade-off between degree of protection and other vaccine characteristics, and that uptake of HPV vaccination may change considerably if girls are supplied with new evidence-based information about the degree of protection against cervical cancer, the protection duration, and the risk of serious side-effects.     

Eliciting preferences for medical devices in South Korea: A discrete choice experiment

This study aims to identify the attributes that contribute to the value of medical devices and quantify the relative importance of them using a discrete choice experiment. Based on a literature review and expert consultation, seven attributes and their levels were identified—severity of disease (2), availability of substitutes (2), improvement in procedure (3), improvement in clinical outcomes (2), increase in survival (2), improvement in quality of life (3), and cost (4). Among 576 hypothetical profiles, optimal choice sets with 20 choices were developed and experts experienced in health technology assessment and reimbursement decision making in South Korea were surveyed. A total of 102 respondents participated in the survey. The results of the random-effect probit model showed that among the seven attributes, six, except for improvement in procedure, had a significant impact on respondents’ choices on medical devices. Respondents were willing to pay the highest amount for devices that provided substantial improvements in quality of life, followed by increased survival, improved clinical outcome, treatment without substitutes, and technology for treating severe diseases. The findings of this experiment will inform decision-makers of the relative importance of the criteria and help them in reimbursement decision making of medical devices.     

Value judgments for priority setting criteria in genetic testing: A discrete choice experiment

As our understanding of genetics has increased, so has the number of genetic tests that have entered clinical practice. Given the need of many European health care systems to contain costs, the question of how to prioritise genetic tests fairly has become an emerging concern.This study uses a discrete-choice experiment to assess the value judgements of clinical geneticists, patient representatives and other stakeholders regarding the prioritisation of genetic tests. The respondents chose between two hypothetical scenarios that differed in severity of the disease, risk of the disease, aim of the test, medical benefit of the test, and costs of the test. Standard logit models and mixed effects models were used to estimate the weights different stakeholders attached to attribute levels.Responses from 594 participants were analysed. The most highly valued attribute levels were a proven medical benefit of the test, high risk of having the disease and low costs of the test. Results also showed that rankings differ between clinical geneticists and other stakeholders.The priority weights determined within this study can inform the policy debate and improve the consistency of prioritisation in genetics. Further stakeholder deliberation is needed to explore their most appropriate use in decision practice.     

Preferences for physician services in Ukraine: a discrete choice experiment

Evidence on preferences of Ukrainian consumers for healthcare improvements can help to design reforms that correspond to societal priorities. This study aims to elicit and to place monetary values on public preferences for out‐patient physician services in Ukraine. The method of discrete choice experiment is used on a sample of 303 respondents, representative of the adult Ukrainian population. The random effect logit model with interactions provides the best fit for the data and is used to calculate the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for quality and access improvements. At a sample level, there is no clear preference to pay formally rather than informally or vice versa. We also do not find that visiting a general practitioner is preferred over direct access to a medical specialist. However, there are differences between population groups. Quality‐related attributes of physician services appear important to respondents, especially the attitude of medical staff. Thus, interpersonal aspects of out‐patient care should be given priority in decisions about investments in quality improvements. Other aspects, that is social quality and access, are important as well but their improvement brings fewer social gains. Measures should be taken to eradicate the informal payment channels and to strengthen the gate‐keeping role of primary care. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimising HPV vaccination communication to adolescents: A discrete choice experiment

BackgroundHuman Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage in France is below 30%, despite proven effectiveness against HPV infections and (pre-)cancerous cervical lesions. To optimise vaccine promotion among adolescents, we used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to identify optimal statements regarding a vaccination programme, including vaccine characteristics.MethodsGirls and boys enrolled in the last two years of five middle schools in three French regions (aged 13–15 years) participated in an in-class cross-sectional self-administered internet-based study. In ten hypothetical scenarios, participants decided for or against signing up for a school-based vaccination campaign against an unnamed disease. Scenarios included different levels of four attributes: the type of vaccine-preventable disease, communication on vaccine safety, potential for indirect protection, and information on vaccine uptake among peers. One scenario was repeated with an added mention of sexual transmission.ResultsThe 1,458 participating adolescents (estimated response rate: 89.4%) theoretically accepted vaccination in 80.1% of scenarios. All attributes significantly impacted theoretical vaccine acceptance. Compared to a febrile respiratory disease, protection against cancer was motivating (odds ratio (OR) 1.29 [95%-CI 1.09–1.52]), but not against genital warts (OR 0.91 [0.78–1.06]). Compared to risk negation (“vaccine does not provoke serious side effects”), a reference to a positive benefit-risk balance despite a confirmed side effect was strongly dissuasive (OR 0.30 [0.24–0.36]), while reference to ongoing international pharmacovigilance without any scientifically confirmed effect was not significantly dissuasive (OR 0.86 [0.71–1.04]). The potential for indirect protection motivated acceptance among girls but not boys (potential for eliminating the disease compared to no indirect protection, OR 1.57 [1.25–1.96]). Compared to mentioning “insufficient coverage”, reporting that “>80% of young people in other countries got vaccinated” motivated vaccine acceptance (OR 1.94 [1.61–2.35]). The notion of sexual transmission did not influence acceptance.ConclusionHPV vaccine communication to adolescents can be tailored to optimise the impact of promotion efforts.     

Preferences in end-of-life care of older persons: after-death interviews with proxy respondents

This population-based study employing after-death interviews with proxies describes older persons' preferences regarding medical care at the end of life. Interviews were held with 270 proxy respondents of 342 deceased persons (age range 59-91) in the Netherlands, The deceased were respondents to the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. The prevalence of advance directives (ADs), preferences for medical decisions at the end of life (i.e. withholding treatment, physician-assisted suicide euthanasia) and preferences about the focus of treatment in the last week of life (i.e. comfort care versus extending life) were examined. Written ADs were present in 14% of the sample. A quarter had designated a surrogate decision-maker. Co-morbidity and perceived self-efficacy (PSE) were positively associated with ADs. About half the sample had expressed a preference in favour or against one or more medical decisions at the end of life. Predictors positively associated with expressing a preference were co-morbidity, dying from cancer, and PSE. Being religious was negatively associated with expressing a preference. The knowledge of the proxy regarding the older person's preference for the focus of treatment was dependent on the patient's symptom burden as perceived by the proxy. The majority of older persons had died without either an AD, or having expressed preferences for end-of-life care. Stimulating the formulation of ADs may help professionals who work with older people to understand these preferences better, especially in the case of non-cancer patients and those with low PSE.     

Preferences of patients for emergency services available during usual GP surgery hours: a discrete choice experiment

OBJECTIVE: A study was undertaken to investigate patients' strength of preferences for attributes or characteristics associated with delivery of emergency primary care services available during usual GP surgery hours and to investigate the trade-offs between attributes. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment was used to quantify patients' strength of preferences for several key attributes of usual-hours emergency primary care. The attributes were chosen to reflect the findings of previous research, current policy initiatives and discussions with local key stakeholders. A self-complete questionnaire was administered to NHS Direct callers and adult attenders at Accident and Emergency, GP services and the NHS Walk-in Centre in the locality. Regression analysis was used to estimate the relative importance to patients of the different attributes. RESULTS: An overall response of 71% (n=432) was achieved. All but one of the attributes was a statistically significant predictor of preference. The attribute 'being kept informed about waiting time' was the most important. This was followed by 'quality of the consultation', 'having a consultation with a nurse', 'having a consultation with a doctor' and 'contacting the service in person'. Respondents were prepared to wait an extra 68 min to have a consultation with a doctor, but an extra 2 h 9 min for information about expected waiting time. There were no measurable preference differences between patients surveyed at different NHS entry points. Respondents younger than 45 years held strong preferences with respect to how they wanted to make contact with the system, whereas older respondents appeared not to hold strong preferences, seemingly indifferent between the alternatives. There was weak evidence which showed the younger group more strongly preferred accessing services via an integrated telephone system than making contact in person. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that local solutions for reforming emergency primary care during hours when the GP surgery is open should take account of the strength of patient preferences. The discrete choice method was acceptable, and the results directly informed the development of a local service framework for such care.     

Parent's preferences for unscheduled paediatric healthcare: A discrete choice experiment

Background

Unscheduled healthcare is a key component of healthcare delivery and makes up a significant proportion of healthcare access, with children being particularly high users of unscheduled healthcare. Understanding the relative importance of factors that influence this behaviour and decision-making is fundamental to ensuring the system is best designed to meet the needs of users and foster appropriate cost-effective usage of health system resources.

Objective

The aim of the study was to identify the parent's preferences for unscheduled healthcare for a common mild childhood illness.

Design

A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was developed to identify the preferences of parents accessing unscheduled healthcare for their children.

Setting and Participants

Data were collected from parents in Ireland (N = 458) to elicit preferences across five attributes: timeliness, appointment type, healthcare professional attended, telephone guidance before attending and cost.

Results

Using a random parameters logit model, all attributes were statistically significant, cost (β = −5.064, 95% confidence interval, CI [−5.60, −4.53]), same-day (β = 1.386, 95% CI [1.19, 1.58]) or next-day access (β = 0.857, 95% CI [0.73, 0.98]), coupled with care by their own general practitioner (β = 0.748, 95% CI [0.61, 0.89]), identified as the strongest preferences of parents accessing unscheduled healthcare for their children.

Discussion

The results have implications for policy development and implementation initiatives that seek to improve unscheduled health services as understanding how parents use these services can maximise their effectiveness.

Patient or Public Contribution

The development of the DCE included a qualitative research component to ensure that the content accurately reflected parents experiences when seeking healthcare. Before data collection, a pilot test was carried out with the target population to gather their views on the survey.     

Determinants of the choice of GP practice registration in England: Evidence from a discrete choice experiment

There have been growing concerns that general practitioner (GP) services in England, which are based on registration with a single practice located near the patient's home, are not sufficiently convenient for patients. To inform the decision as to whether to change registration rules allowing patients to register ‘out-of-area’ and to estimate the demand for this wider choice, we undertook a discrete choice experiment with 1706 respondents. Latent class models were used to analyse preferences for GP practice registration comparing preferences for neighbourhood and non-neighbourhood practices. We find that there is some appetite for registering outside the neighbourhood, but this preference is not uniformly shared across the population. Specifically individuals who are less mobile (e.g. older people and those with caring responsibilities), or satisfied with their local practice are less likely to be interested in registering at a practice outside their neighbourhood. Overall, people feel most strongly about obtaining an appointment with a GP as quickly as possible. Respondents regarded weekend opening as less important than other factors, and particularly less important than extended practice opening hours from Monday to Friday. Assuming a constant demand for GP services, a policy encouraging GP practices to extend their opening hours during the week is likely to decrease the average patient waiting time for an appointment and is likely to be preferred by patients.     

山东省地市级疾控人员工作偏好研究：基于离散选择实验

目的：探讨地市级疾病预防控制中心人员的工作偏好,为制定有效的激励机制提供依据。方法：本研究采用分层抽样和立意抽样相结合的方法,线上调研山东省6个地市级疾控机构的455名工作人员,利用混合Logit模型和潜在类别模型分析数据,并计算支付意愿和相对重要性。结果：混合Logit模型中,收入、福利水平、编制、工作量、群众的认可与尊重、个人职业发展机会和培训机会均对疾控人员的工作偏好有显著影响(P<0.05),其中编制(β=2.636)和收入(β=0.083)等保健因素较激励因素影响程度大。潜在类别模型显示,相对年轻、月收入较低的疾控人群更重视收入;年龄较大、月收入较高的疾控人群更重视编制。结论：地市级疾控人员偏好有编制、收入较高、福利水平很好、群众认可且尊重、工作量少、个人职业发展机会较多和培训机会丰富的工作。建议合理控制并动态调整编制总量,平衡编制内外工作条件的差异;增加对疾控的财政投入,改善薪酬绩效体系;同时重视保健因素和激励因素,多种手段共同激励疾控人员发展;对不同类别的疾控人员采用差异化的激励措施。     

The effects of convenience and quality on the demand for vaccination: Results from a discrete choice experiment

BackgroundVaccination is an effective way to prevent infectious diseases. Most studies analysed people's vaccine decisions, but few studies have analysed the effects of convenience such as immunisation schedule and distance and the quality of vaccination service on vaccination uptake.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper was to investigate adults’ preferences for convenience and quality of vaccination service, calculate the private economic benefit from convenience (vaccination schedule and distance) and quality, and predict the uptake rate for different vaccine scenarios.MethodsIn our study, we interviewed 266 adults in 2 counties of Shandong province in China. The discrete choice experiment (DCE) was employed to analyse the preference for hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination, and a mixed logit model was used to estimate respondent preferences for vaccination attributes included in the DCE.ResultsThe protection rate against hepatitis B (HB), duration of protection, risk of side effects, vaccination cost, schedule, and vaccination sites were proved to influence adults’ preferences for HBV vaccination. The estimated willingness to pay (WTP) for 1 dose schedule instead of 3 doses and for a third-level vaccination site instead of a first-level site was almost equal (19 RMB). However, if the protection duration of the vaccination programme changed from 5 years to 20 years, the adults were willing to pay 35.05 RMB, and WTP for a 99% protection rate instead of a 79% rate was 67.71 RMB. The predicted uptake rate is almost 43% for the base case of HBV vaccination.ConclusionsAdults made trade-offs between vaccination schedules, vaccination sites, and other characteristics of HBV vaccine. The impact of attributes of the vaccine itself, especially protection rate against HB, duration of protection, and risk of side-effects, is more dramatic than convenience and quality of vaccination service.     

Equity and efficiency priorities within the Spanish health system: A discrete choice experiment eliciting stakeholders preferences

Background

The trade-off between efficiency and equity has been largely studied in the health economics literature and for countries with different types of health systems. Even if efficiency and equity are desired, it is not always feasible to attain both simultaneously. In Spain, the National Health System has historically been recognized for its universal access and free of charge provision, with good health outcomes. However, the recent increase in health expenditures together with the economic cycle has turned the orientation of health policy implementation towards efficiency, threatening universality and equity in the access to healthcare.

Understanding the impact of economic evidence on clinical decision making: A discrete choice experiment in cardiology

The present study aims to evaluate the impact of cost-effectiveness information on clinical decision making using discrete choice experiment (DCE) methodology. Data were collected through a self-completed questionnaire administered to Italian cardiologists in June 2007 (n = 129 respondents, 1143 observations). The questionnaire asked clinicians to make choices between paired scenarios, across which three key dimensions were identified and varied: (1) quality of clinical evidence, (2) size of health gain (reduction of relative and absolute risk), and (3) economic impact (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio). A random effects probit model was used to estimate clinicians' preferences for the different dimensions, while the heterogeneity of preferences was tested in a model with interaction terms. Dominance tests were used to assess the consistency of responses. The results indicate that Italian cardiologists regard economic impact (cost-effectiveness) as an important factor in their decision making. Economic evidence is valued more highly among clinicians with a higher self-assessed level of knowledge regarding economic evaluation techniques, as well as among younger professionals (age<45). While relevant study limitations should be acknowledged, our results suggest that DCEs can be used to elicit clinicians' decision-making criteria and to inform the allocation of resources for future research in a logical manner. Italian cardiologists appear to take cost-effectiveness information into account when deciding whether to use new treatments.     

Preferences for COVID-19 epidemic control measures among French adults: a discrete choice experiment

The European Journal of Health Economics - In this stated preferences study, we describe for the first time French citizens’ preferences for various epidemic control measures, to inform...     

Parental preferences for rotavirus vaccination in young children: A discrete choice experiment

Objective

This study aimed to identify characteristics that affect parental decisions about rotavirus vaccination, to determine the relative importance of those characteristics and subsequently to estimate vaccination coverage for different implementation strategies.

Methods

A Discrete choice experiment (DCE) questionnaire was sent to the parents of 1250 newborns aged 6 weeks (response rate 37.3%). Mixed-logit models were used to estimate the relative importance of the five included rotavirus vaccine and implementation characteristics; vaccine effectiveness, frequency of severe side effects, protection duration, the healthcare facility that administrates vaccination and out-of-pocket costs. Based on the utility functions of the mixed-logit model, the potential vaccination coverage was estimated for different vaccine scenarios and implementation strategies.

Results

All characteristics, except for healthcare facility that administrates vaccination, influenced parental willingness to vaccinate their newborn against rotavirus. Parents were willing to trade 20.2 percentage points vaccine effectiveness for the lowest frequency of severe side effects (i.e., 1 in 1,000,000) or 20.8 percentage points for a higher protection duration. Potential vaccination coverage ranged between 22.7 and 86.2%, depending on vaccine scenario (i.e., vaccine effectiveness and protection duration) and implementation strategy (i.e., out-of-pocket costs and healthcare facility that administrates vaccination).

Conclusions

When deciding about vaccination against rotavirus, parents are mostly driven by the out-of-pocket costs, vaccine effectiveness, protection duration, and frequency of severe side effects. The highest vaccination coverage is expected for a vaccine with high effectiveness and protection duration that is implemented within the current National Immunization Program context. Implementation of the same rotavirus vaccine in the free market will result in lowest coverage.