Health state preference assessment in diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess patient preferences for health states associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).


METHODS
Seven health states describing varying stages of disease severity in DPN were developed: mild neuropathy, painful neuropathy, severe neuropathy, minor ulcer, severe ulcer, minor amputation and major amputation. Using a computer interview, both rating scale (RS) and standard gamble (SG) preference scores were elicited from 52 patients with diabetes mellitus.


METHODS
A US university medical centre and a Veterans Affairs clinic.


METHODS
Adult patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus between the ages of 18 and 80 years. Patients were excluded if they had been diagnosed with DPN.


RESULTS
Preference scores decreased in accordance with greater symptomatic and functional impairment. Median RS scores ranged from 0.89 to 0.23 for the seven health states. Median SG scores ranged from 0.96 to 0.65.


CONCLUSIONS
Patient preferences for health states decrease as a function of increasing disease severity in DPN. The result is robust across the RS and SG methods of preference measurement. These results may be useful in informing policy analyses for resource allocation in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Sullivan
Sean D
SD
Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-7630, USA. sdsull@u.washington.edu
Lew
Doris P
DP
Devine
E Beth
EB
Hakim
Zafar
Z
Reiber
Gayle E
GE
Veenstra
David L
DL
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000523:psychology*; D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014481:United States