title: Willingness to pay for new Papanicolaou test technologies.
abstract: The amount of money a woman is willing to pay for liquid-based cytology technology has not been measured. In the present study, 175 women answered a questionnaire asking how much they would pay to decrease their risk of dying of cervical cancer if a new (liquid-based) Papanicolaou (Pap) test was used in place of the conventional smear. When women assumed that the new Pap test reduced the risk of dying of cervical cancer from 1 in 37,000 to 1 in 50,000, the mean amount they were willing to pay was $237. If women had more than 2 children, they were willing to pay more for the new Pap test than women with 2 or fewer children. These data indicate that liquid-based and conventional Pap tests are undervalued and that cost-effectiveness studies generally have not taken into account the preference of women for new Pap test technologies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Raab
authors.forename: Dana Marie
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Grzybicki
authors.forename: Alison R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kiely
authors.forename: Carey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Andrew-JaJa
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scioscia
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends