title: Do You Want to Hear the Bad News? The Value of Diagnostic Tests for Alzheimer's Disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains difficult. Lack of diagnostic certainty or possible distress related to a positive result from diagnostic testing could limit the application of new testing technologies. The objective of this paper is to quantify respondents' preferences for obtaining AD diagnostic tests and to estimate the perceived value of AD test information.
  
  
  METHODS
  Discrete-choice experiment and contingent-valuation questions were administered to respondents in Germany and the United Kingdom. Choice data were analyzed by using random-parameters logit. A probit model characterized respondents who were not willing to take a test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most respondents indicated a positive value for AD diagnostic test information. Respondents who indicated an interest in testing preferred brain imaging without the use of radioactive markers. German respondents had relatively lower money-equivalent values for test features compared with respondents in the United Kingdom.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Respondents preferred less invasive diagnostic procedures and tests with higher accuracy and expressed a willingness to pay up to €700 to receive a less invasive test with the highest accuracy.
authors.affiliation: Hochschule Neubrandenburg, IGM Institut Gesundheitsökonomie und Medizinmanagement, Neubrandenburg, Germany; CHPIR Senior Research Fellow, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Electronic address: muehlbacher@hs-nb.de.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mühlbacher
authors.affiliation: Senior Research Scholar, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NV, USA.
authors.forename: F Reed
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Pacific Economic Research, LLC, Bellevue, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Jui-Chen
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Bad Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Happich
authors.affiliation: Eli Lilly and Company Limited, Windlesham, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D019937:Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures / Q000523:psychology*; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference; D000069079:Radiation Exposure; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease (AD); diagnostic test information; discrete-choice experiment (DCE); money-equivalent value (MEV)