title: Are patients willing to pay for total shoulder arthroplasty? Evidence from a discrete choice experiment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) is a common treatment to decrease pain and improve shoulder function in patients with severe osteoarthritis (OA). In Canada, patients requiring this procedure often wait a year or more. Our objective was to determine patient preferences related to accessing TSA, specifically comparing out-of-pocket payments for treatment, travel time to hospital, the surgeon's level of experience and wait times.
  
  
  METHODS
  We administered a discrete choice experiment among patients with endstage shoulder OA currently waiting for TSA. Respondents were presented with 14 different choice sets, each with 3 options, and they were asked to choose their preferred scenario. A conditional logit regression model was used to estimate the relative preference and willingness to pay for each attribute.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-two respondents completed the questionnaire. Three of the 4 attributes significantly influenced treatment preferences. Respondents had a strong preference for an experienced surgeon (mean 0.89 ± standard error [SE] 0.11), while reductions in travel time (-0.07 ± 0.04) or wait time (-0.04 ± 0.01) were of less importance. Respondents were found to be strongly averse (-1.44 ± 0.18) to surgical treatment by a less experienced surgeon and to paying out-of-pocket for their surgical treatment (-0.56 ± 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that patients waiting for TSA to treat severe shoulder OA have minimal willingness to pay for a reduction in wait time or travel time for surgery, yet will pay higher amounts for treatment by an experienced surgeon.
authors.affiliation: From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (O'Hara, Slobogean); the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC (Mohammadi); the School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John's, NF (Marra); the Department of Orthopaedics, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ont. (Vincente, McKee); and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Khakban).
authors.forename: Nathan N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.affiliation: From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (O'Hara, Slobogean); the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC (Mohammadi); the School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John's, NF (Marra); the Department of Orthopaedics, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ont. (Vincente, McKee); and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Khakban).
authors.forename: Gerard P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Slobogean
authors.affiliation: From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (O'Hara, Slobogean); the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC (Mohammadi); the School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John's, NF (Marra); the Department of Orthopaedics, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ont. (Vincente, McKee); and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Khakban).
authors.forename: Tima
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.affiliation: From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (O'Hara, Slobogean); the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC (Mohammadi); the School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John's, NF (Marra); the Department of Orthopaedics, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ont. (Vincente, McKee); and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Khakban).
authors.forename: Carlo A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Marra
authors.affiliation: From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (O'Hara, Slobogean); the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC (Mohammadi); the School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John's, NF (Marra); the Department of Orthopaedics, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ont. (Vincente, McKee); and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Khakban).
authors.forename: Milena R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (O'Hara, Slobogean); the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC (Mohammadi); the School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John's, NF (Marra); the Department of Orthopaedics, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ont. (Vincente, McKee); and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Khakban).
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khakban
authors.affiliation: From the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (O'Hara, Slobogean); the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC (Mohammadi); the School of Pharmacy, Memorial University, St. John's, NF (Marra); the Department of Orthopaedics, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ont. (Vincente, McKee); and the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Khakban).
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: McKee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019643:Arthroplasty, Replacement / Q000191:economics*; D002170:Canada; D002755:Choice Behavior; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D057240:Patient Preference; D012785:Shoulder Joint; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014850:Waiting Lists