Preferences for healthcare services among hypertension patients in China: a discrete choice experiment

Our study aimed to support evidence-informed policy-making on patient-centred care by investigating preferences for healthcare services among hypertension patients.

We identified six attributes of healthcare services for a discrete choice experiment (DCE), and applied Bayesian-efficient design with blocking techniques to generate choice sets. After conducting the DCE, we used a mixed logit regression model to investigate patients' preferences for each attribute and analysed the heterogeneities in preferences. Estimates of willingness to pay were derived from regression coefficients.

The DCE was conducted in Jiangsu province and Shanghai municipality in China.

Patients aged 18 years or older with a history of hypertension for at least 2 years and who took medications regularly were recruited.

Patients highly valued healthcare services that produced good treatment effects (β=4.502, p<0.001), followed by travel time to healthcare facilities within 1 hour (β=1.285, p<0.001), and the effective physician-patient communication (β=0.771, p<0.001). Continuity of care and minimal waiting time were also positive predictors (p<0.001). However, the out-of-pocket cost was a negative predictor of patients' choice (β=-0.168, p<0.001). Older adults, patients with good health-related quality of life, had comorbidities, and who were likely to visit secondary and tertiary hospitals cared more about favourable effects (p<0.05). Patients were willing to pay ¥2489 (95% CI ¥2013 to ¥2965) as long as the clinical benefits gained were substantial.

Our findings highlight the importance of effective, convenient, efficient, coordinated and patient-centred care for chronic diseases like hypertension. Policy-makers and healthcare providers are suggested to work on aligning the service provision with patients' preferences.