Submitter Withdrawn Poster - Post Notification 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

Preferences for Cancer Information and Support Services—A Discrete Choice Experiment. (126620)

Ann Livingstone 1 , Nikki McCaffrey 1 2 , Victoria White 3 , Jessica Bucholc 1 2 , Elaine Cook 2 , Cathrine Mihalopoulos, 4 , Liliana Orellana 5 , Julie Ratcliffe 6 , Tracey Bilson 7 , Danielle Spence 2 , Lidia Engel 4
  1. Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin Health Economics, Deakin University, School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia
  2. Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  3. School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
  4. School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Health Economics Group, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  5. Biostatistics Unit, Faculty of Health, Deakin University , Geelong, VIC, Australia
  6. Flinders Health Economics Group, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  7. Consumer Representative, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Objectives

Cancer Information and Support Services (CISS) provide resources for the increasing number of people affected by cancer. However, little is known about what service features are valued. This research aimed to quantify the preferences of people with cancer regarding the features of a CISS.

Sample and setting

People with cancer were identified from the CISS caller database and invited via text or email to participate in an online discrete choice experiment.

Procedures

Following consent, respondents completed seven randomly presented choice tasks of two alternative options for the features of CISS. Each option varied based on three levels for each of the following seven features: follow-up call, operating hours, additional technology, operator type, operator consistency, call length, and service fee. The willingness-to-pay, reflecting on average the maximum price participants were willing to pay to gain (or avoid) a particular service feature, was calculated.

Results

Among the 206 participants, preferred service features included: a consistent operator (Mean 1.05, 95% CI [0.73-1.38], p<0.001), weekend availability (0.51 [0.21-0.80], p=0.007), and weekly follow-up calls (0.36 [0.11-0.60], p=0.004). Service features people preferred to avoid included: an operator with cancer experience rather than clinical training (-0.75, [-1.04 to -0.46], p<0.001) and service fees (-0.43 per $10, [-0.05 to -0.03], p<0.001). Willingness-to-pay varied by income; on average, higher-income participants were willing to pay more per average call time of 20 minutes for a consistent operator, $71.79 (95% CI $48.43 to $95.14), than lower-income participants, $25.29 (95% CI -$5.48 to $56.05). 

Conclusion and clinical implications

People with cancer prefer services offering consistent operators and weekend availability. Understanding consumer preferences and the priorities for callers to CISS may allow better-informed decisions for individuals and assist policymakers in decisions about access to services to address the needs of people with cancer.