Preferences of continuing care service options for patients with venous leg ulcer: A discrete choice experiment

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the preferences of patients with venous leg ulcer for wound continuing care programs. Methods: A discrete choice experiment was conducted among patients with venous leg ulcer in three large tertiary hospitals in Shanghai, China. Conditional logit analysis was used to estimate the preference weights for wound continuing care services. Results: A total of 223 VLU patients were surveyed, and 201 valid questionnaires were collected, with a validity rate of 90.1%. The modes of care delivery, service type, consistency of caregiver, and additional services were important considerations for patients when choosing wound continuing care options. Of these, community health service center and wound specialist nurses were preferred, as were options with the same caregiver providing services, online platform appointments, and the inclusion of additional services, while western care and make an appointment in-person at the clinic were relatively less attractive for patients. Conclusion: These results reflect patients' needs and preferences in different aspects and provide valuable references for healthcare organizations and care providers. Patient preferences are deemed as one of the multiple factors that necessitate consideration in the distribution of medical resources. They are integrated with various aspects of deliberations, including geographical location, health conditions, and economic status, so as to construct a comprehensive perspective.