Providing laypeople with results from dynamic infectious disease modelling studies affects their allocation preference for scarce medical resources-a factorial experiment.
BMC Public Health
; 22(1): 572, 2022 03 23.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1770514
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Allocation of scarce medical resources can be based on different principles. It has not yet been investigated which allocation schemes are preferred by medical laypeople in a particular situation of medical scarcity like an emerging infectious disease and how the choices are affected by providing information about expected population-level effects of the allocation scheme based on modelling studies. We investigated the potential benefit of strategic communication of infectious disease modelling results.METHODS:
In a two-way factorial experiment (n = 878 participants), we investigated if prognosis of the disease or information about expected effects on mortality at population-level (based on dynamic infectious disease modelling studies) influenced the choice of preferred allocation schemes for prevention and treatment of an unspecified sexually transmitted infection. A qualitative analysis of the reasons for choosing specific allocation schemes supplements our results.RESULTS:
Presence of the factor "information about the population-level effects of the allocation scheme" substantially increased the probability of choosing a resource allocation system that minimized overall harm among the population, while prognosis did not affect allocation choices. The main reasons for choosing an allocation scheme differed among schemes, but did not differ among those who received additional model-based information on expected population-level effects and those who did not.CONCLUSIONS:
Providing information on the expected population-level effects from dynamic infectious disease modelling studies resulted in a substantially different choice of allocation schemes. This finding supports the importance of incorporating model-based information in decision-making processes and communication strategies.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Communicable Diseases
/
Resource Allocation
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12889-022-13000-7
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS