Identification of Relevant Attributes for Liver Cancer Therapies (IRALCT): a maximum-difference-scaling analysis.
Bennet Hensen1,2, Carolin Winkelmann1,3, Frank K Wacker1,2
1Research Campus STIMULATE, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Otto-Hahn-Straße 2, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany.
Scientific Reports
|November 9, 2022
Summary
Patient preferences significantly align with physician and layman views on key liver cancer therapy attributes. Understanding these shared priorities, like tumor removal certainty and recurrence probability, can improve treatment decisions.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Patient-centered care increasingly emphasizes incorporating patient preferences into treatment decisions.
- Understanding the utility attributes influencing therapy choices for liver cancer is crucial for shared decision-making.
Approach:
- A Maximum Difference (MaxDiff) scaling method was employed to rank attribute importance.
- 261 participants (physicians, liver cancer patients, medical laymen) evaluated 14 pre-identified attributes.
- Data were analyzed using count analysis and hierarchical Bayes estimation.
Key Points:
- Physicians, patients, and laymen identified the same top 7 attributes as most important for liver cancer therapy.
- These critical attributes include tumor removal probability, recurrence risk, pathological evidence of removal, complication likelihood, post-intervention welfare, pain intensity, and intervention difficulty.
- The cumulative relative importance of these 7 attributes was 88.3%.
Conclusions:
- Patient, physician, and medical layman preferences regarding liver cancer therapy attributes are highly similar and stable.
- This consensus supports integrating patient preferences into clinical decision-making for liver cancer treatments.
