title: Parents' willingness to pay for diminishing children's pain during blood sampling.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Blood sampling is a frequent medical procedure, very often considered as a stressful experience by children. Local anesthetics have been developed, but are expensive and not reimbursed by insurance companies in our country. We wanted to assess parents' willingness to pay (WTP) for this kind of drug.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over 6 months, all parents of children presenting for general (GV) or specialized visit (SV) with blood sampling. WTP was assessed through three scenarios [avoiding blood sampling (ABS), using the drug on prescription (PD), or over the counter (OTC)], with a payment card system randomized to ascending or descending order of prices (AO or DO).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-six responses were collected (34 GV, 22 SV, 27 AO and 29 DO), response rate 40%. Response distribution was wide, with median WTP of 40 for ABS, 25 for PD, 10 for OTC, which is close to the drug's real price. Responses were similar for GV and SV. Median WTP amounted to 0.71, 0.67, 0.20% of respondents' monthly income for the three scenarios, respectively, with a maximum at 10%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Assessing parents' WTP in an outpatient setting is difficult, with wide result distribution, but median WTP is close to the real drug price. This finding could be used to promote insurance coverage for this drug.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Economics and Management, University Hospital CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland. jwasserf@chuv.hospvd.ch
authors.forename: Jean-Blaise
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wasserfallen
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Currat-Zweifel
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cheseaux
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fanconi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000191:economics*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003657:Decision Making; D005249:Fees and Charges; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D018962:Phlebotomy / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics