Willingness to take drugs to prevent serious chronic diseases

The aim of this study was to determine an individual's willingness to take a preventive therapy for each of two chronic diseases (type 2 diabetes [T2D] and dementia) when provided with varying likelihoods of acquiring the disease.

After reading a description of two chronic diseases (i.e. T2D and dementia), 345 student volunteers at McMaster University rated their likelihood of taking a drug that could halve their chance of developing each disease, assuming a 1-year risk of developing the disease of 50%, 25%, and 10%. A five-point Likert scale was used to collect responses.

Assuming an annual incidence of 50%, 27% of respondents were neither likely nor very likely to take a therapy that halved the annual incidence of T2D and 13% were neither likely nor very likely to take a therapy that halved the annual incidence of dementia. Higher quoted incidence rates of the disease and a personal history of a chronic illness significantly increased willingness to take such therapy.

A high proportion of young educated adults have ambivalent or negative attitudes regarding the use of pharmacological therapy to prevent serious health outcomes even when the absolute 1-year risk of these outcomes is very high.