Open AccessPatient preferences for Interferon-beta in Iran: A discrete choice experiment
Author(s) -
Farimah Rahimi,
Hamid Reza Rasekh,
Ezatollah Abbasian,
Farzad Peiravian,
Masoud Etemadifar,
Fereshteh Ashtari,
Ali Mohammad Sabzghabaee,
Mohammad Reza Amirsadri
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0193090
Subject(s) - medical prescription , medicine , multiple sclerosis , disease , christian ministry , logistic regression , drug , food and drug administration , family medicine , environmental health , pharmacology , psychiatry , philosophy , theology
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, progressive, and common disease affecting the central nervous system in young adults. Interferon-beta is one of the most widely used medicines to reduce the disease progression. Given the variety of drugs in this category, we aimed to identify the preferences of patients for IFN-β that play an important role in policymaking in this area. Discrete choice experiment method was used in the present study to identify and prioritize those attributes that are of interest to MS patients and increases the utility of the use of IFN-β in their treatment. Questionnaires were given to 358 patients in Isfahan-Iran, who were asked to choose between the two treatment choices in each scenario. The results of the logit model showed that the changes in the efficacy lead to the most changes in the patient utility. Changes in side effects and ease of injection have been placed in the next rankings. Considering the drug attributes considered more desirable by patients can lead to greater medication adherence and possibly better treatment outcomes. Also, pharmaceutical companies, the health ministry, the Food and Drug Administration, insurance organizations, and neurologists can benefit from this information in production and importation, policymaking, and prescription.