Identification and Prioritization of Important Attributes of Disease-Modifying Drugs in Decision Making among Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Nominal Group Technique and Best-Worst Scaling

Ingrid E. H. Kremer*, Silvia M. A. A. Evers, Peter J. Jongen, Trudy van der Weijden, Ilona van de Kolk, Mickael Hiligsmann

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objectives Understanding the preferences of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) for disease-modifying drugs and involving these patients in clinical decision making can improve the concordance between medical decisions and patient values and may, subsequently, improve adherence to disease-modifying drugs. This study aims first to identify which characteristics-or attributes-of disease-modifying drugs influence patients A decisions about these treatments and second to quantify the attributes' relative importance among patients. Methods First, three focus groups of relapsing-remitting MS patients were formed to compile a preliminary list of attributes using a nominal group technique. Based on this qualitative research, a survey with several choice tasks (best-worst scaling) was developed to prioritize attributes, asking a larger patient group to choose the most and least important attributes. The attributes' mean relative importance scores (RIS) were calculated. Results Nineteen patients reported 34 attributes during the focus groups and 185 patients evaluated the importance of the attributes in the survey. The effect on disease progression received the highest RIS (RIS = 9.64, 95% confidence interval: [9.48-9.81]), followed by quality of life (RIS = 9.21 [9.00-9.42]), relapse rate (RIS = 7.76 [7.39-8.13]), severity of side effects (RIS = 7.63 [7.33-7.94]) and relapse severity (RIS = 7.39 [7.06-7.73]). Subgroup analyses showed heterogeneity in preference of patients. For example, side effectrelated attributes were statistically more important for patients who had no experience in using disease-modifying drugs compared to experienced patients (p
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0164862
JournalPLOS ONE
Volume11
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Nov 2016

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