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Parents' willingness to pay for diminishing children's pain during blood sampling
Jean-Blaise Wasserfallen1, Christine Currat-Zweifel, Jean-Jacques Cheseaux
1Institute of Health Economics and Management, University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland. jwasserf@chuv.hospvd.ch
Insights
Parents are willing to pay for local anesthetics to reduce children's stress during blood sampling. Median willingness to pay (WTP) for pain management drugs aligns with actual costs, suggesting potential for insurance coverage.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Pain Management
- Health Economics
Background:
- Blood sampling is a common yet stressful procedure for children.
- Developed local anesthetics are costly and lack insurance reimbursement.
- Assessing parental willingness to pay (WTP) for these drugs is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate parents' willingness to pay (WTP) for local anesthetic drugs to alleviate procedural pain in children.
- To determine parental WTP across different scenarios: avoiding blood sampling (ABS), prescription use (PD), and over-the-counter (OTC) purchase.
Main Methods:
- A 6-month study involving parents of children undergoing blood sampling during general (GV) or specialized visits (SV).
- WTP was assessed using a payment card system with randomized ascending/descending price orders (AO/DO) across three scenarios.
- Fifty-six responses were collected, yielding a 40% response rate.
Main Results:
- Median WTP was 40 (ABS), 25 (PD), and 10 (OTC), approximating the drug's actual price.
- WTP as a percentage of monthly income was 0.71% (ABS), 0.67% (PD), and 0.20% (OTC), with a maximum of 10%.
- Results were consistent between general and specialized visits.
Conclusions:
- Parental WTP for pediatric pain management during blood draws is significant, though assessment in outpatient settings presents challenges.
- The median WTP closely matches the drug's real-world price.
- Findings support advocating for insurance coverage for these pain-reducing medications.
Background:
Blood sampling is a frequent medical procedure, very often considered as a stressful experience by children. Local anesthetics have been developed, but are expensive and not reimbursed by insurance companies in our country. We wanted to assess parents' willingness to pay (WTP) for this kind of drug.
Patients And Methods:
Over 6 months, all parents of children presenting for general (GV) or specialized visit (SV) with blood sampling. WTP was assessed through three scenarios [avoiding blood sampling (ABS), using the drug on prescription (PD), or over the counter (OTC)], with a payment card system randomized to ascending or descending order of prices (AO or DO).
Results:
Fifty-six responses were collected (34 GV, 22 SV, 27 AO and 29 DO), response rate 40%. Response distribution was wide, with median WTP of 40 for ABS, 25 for PD, 10 for OTC, which is close to the drug's real price. Responses were similar for GV and SV. Median WTP amounted to 0.71, 0.67, 0.20% of respondents' monthly income for the three scenarios, respectively, with a maximum at 10%.
Conclusions:
Assessing parents' WTP in an outpatient setting is difficult, with wide result distribution, but median WTP is close to the real drug price. This finding could be used to promote insurance coverage for this drug.
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