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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
Methods to Quantify Pharmacologically Induced Alterations in Motor Function in Human Incomplete SCI
Published on: April 18, 2011
Stroke survivors' preferences for recovery-promoting drugs: development and piloting of a discrete choice experiment
Nerida Firth1, Alison Pearce2,3, Oyelola Adegboye4,5
1College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. nerida.firth@my.jcu.edu.au.
Background:
Recovery-promoting drugs (RPDs) offer a pharmacological approach to improve motor recovery in stroke survivors. Investigating stroke survivors' preferences for taking RPDs would allow preferences to be considered during development of intervention protocols and optimise participant adherence. The aim of this study was to develop and pilot a robust discrete choice experiment (DCE) that examines stroke survivors' preferences for RPDs in combination with physical training to improve motor recovery. Pilot objectives were to assess the: (1) effectiveness of the data collection strategy; (2) effectiveness of the survey instrument design; and (3) robustness of the discrete choice experiment design.
Methods:
An online DCE with two-alternative choice tasks consisting of six attributes (efficacy, out-of-pocket cost, side effects, treatment duration, dosage, and risk) depicting a stroke rehabilitation program involving RPDs. Respondents completed eleven choice tasks each: nine choice tasks divided into four blocks, plus a dominant choice and duplicate task. Participants were community-dwelling Australian stroke survivors. Outcomes included measures of data completeness, choice validity, and content validity. Conditional logit model analysis was used to estimate the marginal willingness-to-pay, and β coefficients for attributes and levels.
Results:
Seventy-three stroke survivors completed the online DCE, with a survey completion rate of 89%. The survey instrument design was effective, with 94.5% and 84.9% respondents passing the dominant and duplicate choice tasks respectively. The DCE design was robust with clear and appropriate attributes and levels, accurate choice tasks and experimental design.
Conclusions:
Systematic development and piloting of this DCE has confirmed its robustness and feasibility. This study provides an example of robust procedures and reporting requirements for developing and piloting robust discrete choice experiments.
