title: Quality of life and patient preferences: identification of subgroups of multiple sclerosis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to estimate preferences related to quality of life attributes in people with multiple sclerosis, by keeping heterogeneity of patient preference in mind, using the latent class approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  A discrete choice experiment survey was developed using the following attributes: activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, pain/fatigue, anxiety/depression and attention/concentration. Choice sets were presented as pairs of hypothetical health status, based upon a fractional factorial design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The latent class logit model estimated on 152 patients identified three subpopulations, which, respectively, attached more importance to: (1) the physical dimension; (2) pain/fatigue and anxiety/depression; and (3) instrumental activities of daily living impairments, anxiety/depression and attention/concentration. A posterior analysis suggests that the latent class membership may be related to an individual's age to some extent, or to diagnosis and treatment, while apart from energy dimension, no significant difference exists between latent groups, with regard to Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A quality of life preference-based utility measure for people with multiple sclerosis was developed. These utility values allow identification of a hierarchic priority among different aspects of quality of life and may allow physicians to develop a care programme tailored to patient needs.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Turin, Via Verdi 10, 10126, Turin, Italy, rosalba.rosato@unito.it.
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosato
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oggero
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Molinengo
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertolotto
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult