title: An exploration of relative health stock in advanced cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors sought to empirically test whether relative health stock, a measure of patients' sense of loss in their health due to illness, influences the treatment decisions of patients facing life-threatening conditions. Specifically, they estimated the effect of relative health stock on advanced cancer patients' decisions to participate in phase I clinical trials.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multicenter study was conducted to survey 328 advanced cancer patients who were offered the opportunity to participate in phase I trials. The authors asked patients to estimate the probabilities of therapeutic benefits and toxicity, their relative health stock, risk preference, and the importance of quality of life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Controlling for health-related quality of life, an increase in relative health stock by 10 percentage points reduced the odds of choosing to participate in a phase I trial by 16% (odds ratio = 0.84, 95% confidence interval = 0.72, 0.97).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Relative health stock affects advanced cancer patients' treatment decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. dgaskin@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Darrell J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Gaskin
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Weinfurt
authors.forename: Liana D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Castel
authors.forename: Venita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: DePuy
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balshem
authors.forename: Al
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.forename: Caroline B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Burnett
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Elyse
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Slater
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Sulmasy
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van Echo
authors.forename: Neal J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Meropol
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Schulman
mesh_terms: D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D018570:Risk Assessment