scholarly journals Public, medical professionals’ and patients’ preferences for the allocation of donor organs for transplantation: study protocol for discrete choice experiments

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e026040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Oedingen ◽  
Tim Bartling ◽  
Christian Krauth

IntroductionOrgan transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with severe organ failure. Nevertheless, donor organs are a scarce resource resulting in a large mismatch between supply and demand. Therefore, priority-setting leads to the dilemma of how these scarce organs should be allocated and who should be considered eligible to receive a suitable organ. In order to improve the supply–demand mismatch in transplantation medicine, this study explores preferences of different stakeholders (general public, medical professionals and patients) for the allocation of donor organs for transplantation in Germany. The aims are (1) to determine criteria and preferences, which are relevant for the allocation of scarce donor organs and (2) to compare the results between the three target groups to derive strategies for health policy.Methods and analysisWe outline the study protocol for discrete choice experiments, where respondents are presented with different choices including attributes with varied attribute levels. They were asked to choose between these choice sets. First, systematic reviews will be conducted to identify the state of art. Subsequently, focus group discussions with the public and patients as well as expert interviews with medical professionals will follow to establish the attributes that are going to be included in the experiments and to verify the results of the systematic reviews. Using this qualitative exploratory work, discrete choice studies will be designed to quantitatively assess preferences. We will use a D-efficient fractional factorial design to survey a total sample of 600 respondents according to the public, medical professionals and patients each. Multinomial conditional logit model and latent class model will be analysed to estimate the final results.Ethics and disseminationThis study has received Ethics Approval from the Hannover Medical School Human Ethics Committee (Vote number: 7921_BO_K_2018). Findings will be disseminated through conference presentations, workshops with stakeholders and peer-reviewed journal articles.

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-497
Author(s):  
Ian Waudby-Smith ◽  
A. Simon Pickard ◽  
Feng Xie ◽  
Eleanor M. Pullenayegum

Introduction. The EQ-5D-5L valuation protocol contains both time tradeoff (TTO) tasks and discrete choice experiments (DCE), raising the question of how to best use these in creating a value set. The hybrid model, which combines TTO and DCE data, has emerged as a commonly used approach. However, this model assumes independence among responses from the same individual, a linear relationship between TTO and DCE utilities, and, in many implementations, homoscedastic residuals. The aims of this study are to examine alternatives to these assumptions and determine the impact of misspecification on value sets. Methods. We performed a simulation study, parameterized using the US EQ-5D-5L valuation study, to assess the impact of model misspecification. We simulated TTO and DCE data with nonlinear relationships between TTO and DCE utilities, heteroscedastic errors, and correlated responses. Simulated data were analyzed using hybrid models with and without heteroscedasticity, Tobit models with and without heteroscedasticity, a latent class model, and a mixed model. Results. Mean absolute errors (MAEs) for correctly specified models were <0.05, whereas models that incorrectly assumed a linear relationship between TTO and DCE utilities or homoscedasticity of TTO responses featured states with an MAE >0.1. When a linear relationship between TTO and DCE utilities held, using both TTO and DCE data under correct specification yielded smaller MAEs compared with using TTO data alone but yielded larger MAEs when a linear relationship did not hold. Mistakenly assuming homoscedasticity led to increased MAEs, whereas ignoring dependence did not. Conclusions. Because heteroscedasticity in TTO utilities and nonlinear associations between DCE and TTO utilities have been noted, we recommend careful assessment of scedasticity and linearity to ascertain the suitability of a hybrid model.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6144
Author(s):  
Yu-Hui Chen ◽  
Kai-Han Qiu ◽  
Kang Ernest Liu ◽  
Chun-Yuan Chiang

Most consumers in Taiwan have never eaten pure rice noodles (PRNs) and some may mistakenly treat corn starch-based rice noodles as PRNs. This study examines consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for PRNs using discrete choice (DC) experiments with a blind tasting test to understand consumers’ ability to identify PRNs with varying rice content on the basis of their appearance and taste. Collecting data from the Taipei metropolitan area, our DC experimental results of both pre- and post-experiment conditions show that Taiwanese consumers do prefer PRNs and their WTP for PRNs was strengthened. A latent class model highlights that attribute preferences tend to differ by group and thus rice content ratios should be properly labeled so that consumers can make a better choice according to their preferences. Our WTP estimates also imply that offering tasting trials to consumers is an effective marketing strategy to encourage potential purchases of PRNs for the rice noodle industry.


2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verity Watson ◽  
Andrew Carnon ◽  
Mandy Ryan ◽  
Derek Cox

Author(s):  
Maria De Salvo ◽  
Giuseppe Cucuzza ◽  
Giovanni Signorello

AbstractA study based on discrete choice experiments is conducted to investigate how bioecological attributes of birding sites enter the utility functions of specialized birders and affect their travel intentions. Estimates are based on generalized multinomial and scales-adjusted latent class models. We find that the probability of observing a rare or a new bird species, and the numerosity of species significantly affect birders’ choice destination. We also find that individual preferences among attributes are correlated and affected by scale and taste heterogeneity. We identify two latent classes of birders. In the first class fall birders attaching a strong interest in qualitative aspects of sites and low importance on distance from home. Class 2 groups birders addicted both on all qualitative and quantitative bioecological attributes of sites as well as on the distance. In general, we assess that the majority of birders prefer to travel short distances, also when the goal is viewing rare or new birds. Finally, we estimate marginal welfare changes in biological attributes of sites in terms of willingness to travel.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Negar Mirzaee ◽  
Amirhossein Takian ◽  
Farshad Farzadfar ◽  
Rajabali Daroudi ◽  
Ali Kazemi Karyani ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Global concerns regarding the significant burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries (NCDIs) exist from both public health and economic perspectives. Our research focuses on the reduction of fatal risks due to NCDIs and the citizens’ preferences about health programs and intervention to reduce premature death due to NCDIs. Governments and health authorities need reliable evidence and information to prioritize the interests of their citizens. One crucial piece of evidence to justify the resources spent on NCDIs is the value derived from the interventions on prevention and NCDIs control. This concept is usually called “Value of Statistical Life” (VSL), meaning the monetary value that individuals place on changes in the risk levels of life- threatening events. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time, our study will estimate the statistical value of life for selected interventions for the prevention and control of NCDIs at both national and sub-national levels in the context of Iran. This paper reports the development of a national protocol through Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) method. Methods and designs Our study comprises several stages: (a) a literature review to identify the attributes and levels of the prevention programs and Willingness to Pay (WTP) for reducing the NCDI’s fatal risks; (b) experimental design to assessing, prioritizing, and finalizing the identified attributes and levels; (c) instrumental design to conduct face-to-face structured survey interviews of 3180 respondents aged 18–69 across the entire country; (d) statistical analysis to estimate the results through the Mixed Multinomial logit (MMNL) model. Discussion We anticipate that our findings will help build a stronger empirical basis for monetizing the value of small changes in selected fatality risks. It paves the way for other national or vast VSL estimates for NCDIs, as well as other major causes of morbidity and mortality in the context of Iran, and perhaps other low and middle-income countries (LMICs).


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