Use of best-worst scaling to assess patient perceptions of treatments for refractory overactive bladder

Refractory overactive bladder (OAB) treatments, including sacral neuromodulation (SNM), onabotulinumtoxin A (OnabotA), and percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS), differ considerably. Best-Worst Scaling (BWS) was used to assess patient preferences for these treatments.

A cross-sectional Web survey, based on findings from qualitative interviews with 23 OAB patients and 7 clinical experts, was conducted with idiopathic OAB patients in the US and UK. The BWS exercise involved prioritizing subsets of 13 attributes across 13 choice tasks, where patients identified the attribute they considered as best and as worst in each task. Attribute BWS scores, ranging from -1.0 (worst) to 1.0 (best) were calculated based on the rates that each attribute was chosen. Attitudes toward the attributes also were assessed via like/dislike Likert scales, and questions regarding the percentage likelihood (0-100%) of trying each treatment, based on standardized treatment descriptions.

The sample included 245 patients (118 US, 127 UK); 79% female, mean age 50 ± 7.8 years. All 13 attribute BWS scores were significantly positive or negative. "Lasting improvement" (0.82), "minimal side effects" (0.67), and "sends signals between bladder and brain" (0.35)' were rated most favorably, and "complications with implant" (-0.65), and "be willing to self-catheterize" (-0.53) were rated worst. All but one of the attribute BWS scores were significantly correlated with the respective like/dislike scores and the percentage likelihood estimates for trying one of the three treatments.

BWS was successful in assessing the magnitude of patient preferences for key attributes associated with substantially different refractory OAB therapies. Neurourol. Urodynam. 35:1028-1033, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.