Purpose
Multiple biologics are available for moderate to severe asthma. Given the important relationship between patient engagement in healthcare decision-making and health outcomes, patient preference is an increasingly important consideration. This study elicited patients' preferences for attributes of biologic therapies for moderate to severe asthma.
Patient and methods
A discrete choice experiment (DCE) questionnaire was designed to collect data from an existing survey panel of adults with moderate to severe asthma in the United States. Patients were asked to select their preferred hypothetical treatment from profiles with varying attributes related to efficacy, safety, and administration convenience. Conditional logit regression models were used to quantify patient preferences.
Results
Of 301 eligible patients who completed the survey, the mean age was 46.7±15.1 years and 71.8% were female. Patients had asthma for 22.5±16.3 years on average, and most (97.3%) had experienced ≥1 asthma attack in the past 12 months. Among treatment attributes examined, patients most valued the absence of a black box warning for the risk of a life-threatening allergic reaction, effectiveness of reducing severe asthma exacerbations, and improvement in lung function (all p < 0.001). Home administration setting for subcutaneous injections (vs doctor's office/clinic) (p = 0.009) and ability of a biologic to treat additional chronic condition(s) (p < 0.05) were also considered important. Dosing frequency and type of injection device were not significant factors.
Conclusion
Patients with moderate to severe asthma valued efficacy and safety over convenience attributes when selecting biologic treatments. Awareness of these preferences can facilitate patient-physician shared decision-making when managing moderate to severe asthma in clinical practice.
Associated People
Mirko Fillbrunn
Dr. Fillbrunn specializes in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), biostatistics, and epidemiology. His expertise includes strategically developing and guiding the implementation of analytics throughout the entire product life cycle, including analyses of clinical trials and real-world health care data such as insurance claims, electronic health records, medical charts, and surveys. Dr. Fillbrunn’s contributions have informed clinical regulators and health care payers in both the US and global markets. His research has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and presented at clinical and health economic conferences. Prior to joining Analysis Group, Dr. Fillbrunn was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.