title: A study of the user's perception of economic value in nursing visits to primary care by the method of contingent valuation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The identification of the attribution of economic value that users of a health system assign to a health service could be useful in planning these services. The method of contingent valuation can provide information about the user's perception of value in monetary terms, and therefore comparable between services of a very different nature. This study attempts to extract the economic value that the subject, user of primary care nursing services in a public health system, attributes to this service by the method of contingent valuation, based on the perspectives of Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Accept [Compensation] (WTA).
  
  
  METHODS
  This is an economic study with a transversal design. The contingent valuation method will be used to estimate the user's willingness to pay (WTP) for the care received from the primary care nurse and the willingness to accept [compensation] (WTA), were this service eliminated. A survey that meets the requisites of the contingent valuation method will be constructed and pilot-tested. Subsequently, 600 interviews will be performed with subjects chosen by systematic randomized sampling from among those who visit nursing at twenty health centers with different socioeconomic characteristics in the Community of Madrid. The characteristics of the subject and of the care received that can explain the variations in WTP, WTA and in the WTP/WTA ratio expressed will be studied. A theoretical validation of contingent valuation will be performed constructing two explanatory multivariate mixed models in which the dependent variable will be WTP, and the WTP/WTA relationship, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The identification of the attribution of economic value to a health service that does not have a direct price at the time of use, such as a visit to primary care nursing, and the definition of a profile of "loss aversion" in reference to the service evaluated, can be relevant elements in planning, enabling incorporating patient preferences to health policy decision-making.
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine Unit, West Area, Primary Care, Madrid Health Service, Spain. jmartinefe@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martín-Fernández
authors.forename: Francisco Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Pérez-Rivas
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gómez-Gascón
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: del Cura-González
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tello Bernabé
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Martínez
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Polentinos-Castro
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Domínguez-Bidagor
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ariza-Cardiel
authors.forename: Juan Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Conde-López
authors.forename: Milagros
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beamud-Lagos
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aguado-Arroyo
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sanz-Bayona
authors.forename: Ana Isabel
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Gil-Lacruz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010465:Perception; D059017:Primary Care Nursing / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain