Patients' Preferences Regarding Osteoarthritis Medications: An Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis Study

Area of Science:

• Pharmacoeconomics
• Patient-reported outcomes
• Health services research

Background:

• Osteoarthritis (OA) patients weigh various harms and benefits of pharmaceutical treatments.
• Traditional choice-based experiments limit attributes due to respondent burden.
• An adaptive choice-based conjoint (ACBC) method was employed to overcome these limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand patient preferences and trade-offs in non-invasive pharmaceutical treatments for OA.
• To assess the impact of multiple attributes on OA medication choices.
• To evaluate the utility of ACBC in capturing patient preferences without increasing burden.

Main Methods:

• An online ACBC survey was developed with 9 attributes and 31 levels, informed by OA patients and a public involvement group.
• The survey included benefits, harms, and treatment availability/modality attributes.
• Patients diagnosed with OA and reporting joint pain within the last 12 months were recruited (n=43).

Main Results:

• The most critical factors for OA medication choice were risk of heart attacks/strokes (19.5%) and addiction (18.4%).
• Other significant factors included kidney/liver side effects (17.5%), stomach side effects (14.6%), and availability (11.6%).
• Pain reduction (5%) and mobility improvement (3.5%) were the least prioritized attributes.

Conclusions:

• ACBC effectively captures OA patient preferences, overcoming limitations of traditional methods.
• Avoidance of side effects significantly influences OA medication choices more than pain reduction or mobility improvement.
• Clinicians should discuss potential trade-offs between risks and benefits when advising OA patients on medication options.