Anticoagulation Treatment in Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism: Assessment of Patient Preferences Using a Discrete Choice Experiment (COSIMO Study).

INTRODUCTION: Clinical guidelines recommend anticoagulation therapy for the treatment of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE), but little is known about preferences. Therefore, the objective of this discrete choice experiment (DCE) was to elucidate patient preferences regarding anticoagulation convenience attributes. METHODS: Adult patients with cancer-associated VTE who switched to direct oral anticoagulants were included in a single-arm study (COSIMO). Patients were asked to decide between hypothetical treatment options based on a combination of the following attributes: route of administration (injection/tablet), frequency of intake (once/twice daily), need for regular controls of the international normalized ratio (INR) at least every 3 to 4 weeks (yes/no), interactions with food/alcohol (yes/no), and distance to treating physician (1 vs. 20 km) as an additional neutral attribute. DCE data were collected by structured telephone interviews and analyzed based on a conditional logit regression. RESULTS: Overall, 163 patients (mean age 63.7 years, 49.1% female) were included. They strongly preferred oral administration compared with self-injections (importance of this attribute for overall treatment decisions: 73.8%), and a treatment without dietary restrictions (11.8%). Even if these attributes were less important (7.2% and 6.5%, respectively), patients indicated a preference for a shorter distance to the treating physician and once-daily dosing compared with twice-daily intake. "Need for regular controls of INR at least every 3 to 4 weeks" showed no significant impact on the treatment decision (0.7%). CONCLUSION: This study showed that treatment-related decision making in cancer-associated VTE, assuming comparable effectiveness and safety of anticoagulant treatments, is predominantly driven by "route of administration," with patients strongly preferring oral administration.

Country-based Comparison of Atrial Fibrillation Patients' Preferences for Oral Anticoagulation: An Evaluation of Discrete Choice Experiments in Five Different Countries.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to examine atrial fibrillation (AF) patients' preferences regarding oral anticoagulation (OAC) characteristics and to investigate differences across 5 different countries. A multicenter discrete choice experiment was conducted in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Taiwan. Study sites enrolled patients with nonvalvular AF who received continuous OAC therapy. The discrete choice experiment design considered the following 4 attributes with 2 attribute levels each: need for bridging (yes/no), interactions with food/alcohol (yes/no), need for regular international normalized ratio (INR) assessments, and frequency of intake (once/twice daily). Generally, patients (n = 1391) preferred treatment alternatives that were characterized by "no need of bridging," "no need for regular INR controls," "no interactions with food/alcohol," and "once daily intake." For this desired treatment regimen, patients were willing to accept a substantially higher travel distance/time. German patients with AF were strongly impacted in their hypothetical treatment decision by the frequency of intake (37.5%). Swedish patients on the other hand gave little importance to intake frequency (12.6%). In Switzerland, patients were especially concerned with food/alcohol interactions of the medication (34.7%), whereas this was the least important attribute for Taiwanese patients (18.9%), who ascribed the most homogenous importance to the different treatment attributes overall. In Spain, the need for regular INR assessments especially impacted the patient's treatment decision (31.9%). Patients of all countries attributed a moderate importance to the need for bridging (25.9%-34.2%). These findings may facilitate country-specific consideration of patients' preferences regarding OAC therapy, potentially increasing treatment acceptance on the patient's side with the ultimate goal of improving treatment adherence and persistence.

How to Implement Adherence-Promoting Programs in Clinical Practice? A Discrete Choice Experiment on Physicians' Preferences.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to examine physicians' preferences regarding adherence-promoting programs (APPs), and to investigate which APP characteristics influence the willingness of physicians to implement these in daily practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A discrete choice experiment was conducted among general practitioners, cardiologists, neurologists and ophthalmologists in Germany. The design considered five attributes with two or three attribute levels each: validation status of the APP; possibility for physicians to receive a certificate; type of intervention; time commitment per patient and quarter of the year to carry out the APP; reimbursement for APP participation, per included patient and quarter of the year.A multinomial logit model was run to estimate physicians' utility for each attribute and to evaluate the influence of different levels on the probability of choosing a specific APP. The relative importance of the attributes was compared between different pre-defined subgroups. RESULTS: In total, 222 physicians were included in the analysis. The most important characteristics of APPs were time commitment to carry out the program (34.8% importance), reimbursement (33.3%), and validation status of the program (23.7%). The remaining attributes (type of intervention: 3.6%; possibility to receive a certificate: 4.7%) were proven to be less important for a physician's decision to participate in an APP. Physicians on average preferred APP alternatives characterized by little time commitment (ß=1.456, p<0.001), high reimbursement for work (ß=1.392, p<0.001), "positive validation status" (ß=0.990, p<0.001), the "possibility to get a certificate" (ß=0.197, p<0.001), and the provision of "tools for both physicians and patients" (ß=0.150, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: For the majority of the physicians participating in this survey, the willingness to implement an APP is determined by the associated time commitment and reimbursement. Considering physicians' preferences regarding different APP features in the promoting process of these programs may enhance physicians' participation and engagement.

[Stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation in Germany. Situational analysis of treatment reality based on retrospective data]. / Schlaganfallprophylaxe bei Vorhofflimmern in Deutschland : Eine Statusanalyse basierend auf retrospektiven Daten der Versorgungsrealität.

BACKGROUND: Guideline-based, risk-adjusted therapy with anticoagulants reduce thromboembolic stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). METHOD: This study analyzed use of oral anticoagulation in German AF-patients. Access to anonymized patient records was made via IMS Health Disease Analyzer database (sample size: 113,619 patients with ICD-10 Code I48.-; observation period: 11/2010-10/2013). Results were subsequently extrapolated to all general practitioners' (GPs) and cardiological practices in Germany. RESULTS: In 2011 12-month AF-prevalence was extrapolated to 2.1 million patients (first diagnosed: n = 537.548). In 2012 AF-prevalence gone up to 2.2 million cases (first diagnosed: n = 537.548) and in 2013 to 2.8 million (first diagnosed: n = 636.571). Commonly prescribed oral anticoagulants (OAC) were vitamin K antagonists (VKA). Unstable INR setting, private health insurance, hospital admission, heart failure or hypertension increased probability of change from VKA to non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC). 17.3-36.5% of patients with CHA2DS2-VASc-score ≥ 2 did not receive any thromboembolism prophylaxis; 38.5% with CHA2DS2-VASc-score = 0 received unnecessarily OACs. For 2013 a potential of 29.749 ischemic strokes in GP practices was calculated, which possibly can be avoided by thromboembolism prophylaxis according to guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Risk-based anticoagulation showed requirements for optimization. Use of OACs, according to guideline recommendations, would minimize bleeding risks, reduce ischemic strokes and could release resources.

Preferences for anticoagulation therapy in atrial fibrillation: the patients' view.

Since the introduction of new oral anticoagulants (NOACs), besides vitamin-K antagonists, an additional option for stroke prevention of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is available. The objective of this study was to assess AF patients' preferences with regard to the attributes of these different treatment options. We conducted a multicenter study among randomly selected physicians. Preferences were assessed by computer-assisted telephone interviews. We used a discrete-choice-experiment (DCE) with four convenience-related treatment dependent attributes (need of bridging: yes/no, interactions with food/nutrition: yes/no, need of INR controls/dose adjustment: yes/no; frequency of intake: once/twice daily) and one comparator attribute (distance to practitioner: <1 km/>15 km). Preferences measured in the interviews were analyzed descriptively and based on a conditional logit regression model. A total of 486 AF patients (age: 73.9 ± 8.2 years; 43.2 % female; mean CHA2DS2-VASc: 3.7 ± 1.6; current medication: 48.1 % rivaroxaban, 51.9 % VKA) could be interviewed. Regardless of type of medication, patients significantly preferred the attribute levels (in order of patients' importance) "once daily intake" (Level: once = 1 vs. twice = 0; Coefficient = 0.615; p < 0.001), "bridging necessary" (yes = 1 vs. no = 0; -0.558; p < 0.001), "distance to practitioner of ≤1 km (>15 km = 0 vs. ≤1 km = 1; 0.494; p < 0.001), "interactions with food/nutrition" (yes = 1 vs. no = 0; -0.332; p < 0.001) and "need of INR controls/dose adjustment" (yes = 1 vs. no = 0; -0.127; p < 0.001). In our analyses, "once daily frequency of intake" was the most important OAC-attribute for patients' choice followed by "no bridging necessary" and "no interactions with food/nutrition". Thus, patients with AF seem to prefer treatment options which are easier to administer.