A discrete-choice experiment of United Kingdom patients' willingness to risk adverse events for improved function and pain control in osteoarthritis.
Hauber AB., Arden NK., Mohamed AF., Johnson FR., Peloso PM., Watson DJ., Mavros P., Gammaitoni A., Sen SS., Taylor SD.
OBJECTIVE: To assess patient preferences for treatment-related benefits and risks associated with the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the management of osteoarthritis (OA). DESIGN: Using a chronic-illness panel in the United Kingdom, patients 45 years or older with a self-reported diagnosis of OA were eligible to participate in the study. Patient preferences were assessed using a discrete-choice experiment that compared hypothetical treatment profiles of benefits and risks consistent with NSAID use. Benefit outcomes (ambulatory pain, resting pain, stiffness, and difficulty doing daily activities) were presented on a 0-to-100 mm scale. Risk outcomes (bleeding ulcer, stroke, and myocardial infarction [MI]) were expressed as probabilities over a fixed time period. Each patient answered 10 choice tasks comparing different treatment profiles. Preference weights were estimated using a random-parameters logit model. RESULTS: Final sample included 294 patients. Patients ranked reductions in ambulatory pain and difficulty doing daily activities (both: 6.32; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.0-7.6) as the most important benefit outcomes, followed by reductions in resting pain (2.80; 95% CI: 1.8-3.8) and stiffness (2.65; 95% CI: 0.9-4.4). Incremental changes (3%) in the risk of MI or stroke were assessed as the most important risk outcomes (10.00; 95% CI: 8.2-11.8; and 8.90; 95% CI: 7.3-10.5, respectively). CONCLUSION: Patients ranked ambulatory pain as a more important benefit than resting pain; likely due to its impact on ability to do daily activities. For a 25-mm reduction, patients were willing to accept four times the risk of MI in ambulatory pain vs resting pain.