The value of informal care--a further investigation of the feasibility of contingent valuation in informal caregivers.
Including informal care in economic evaluations is increasingly advocated but problematic. We investigated three well-known concerns regarding contingent valuation (CV): (1) the item non-response of CV values, (2) the sensitivity of CV values to the individual circumstances of caring, and (3) the choice of valuation method by comparing willingness-to-pay (WTP) and willingness-to-accept (WTA) values for a hypothetical marginal change in hours of informal care currently provided.The study sample consisted of 1453 caregivers and 787 care recipients. Of the caregivers, 603 caregivers (41.5%) provided both WTP and WTA values, 983 (67.7%) provided at least one. Determinants of non-response were dependent on the valuation method; primary determinants were education and satisfaction with amount of informal care provided. Caregivers' mean WTP (WTA) for reducing (increasing) informal care by 1 h was euro9.13 (10.52). Care recipients' mean WTA (WTP) for reducing (increasing) informal care by 1 h was euro8.88 (euro6.85). Values were associated with a variety of characteristics of the caregiving situation; explanatory variables differed between WTP and WTA valuations. The differences between WTP and WTA valuations were small.Based on sensitivity CV appears to be a useful method to value informal care for use in economic evalations, non-response, however, remains a matter of concern.
de Meijer
Claudine
C
Erasmus MC, Department of Health Policy and Management, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. c.demeijer@erasmusmc.nl
Brouwer
Werner
W
Koopmanschap
Marc
M
van den Berg
Bernard
B
van Exel
Job
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000191:economics*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000191:economics; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017059:Models, Econometric; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult