Women’s preference to apply shared decision-making in breast cancer screening: a discrete choice experiment

Abstract

ObjectiveTo analyse women’s stated preferences for establishing the relative importance of each attribute of shared decision-making (SDM) and their willingness to pay (WTP) for more participatory care in breast cancer screening programmes (BCSP).DesignA discrete choice experiment was designed with 12 questions (choice tasks). It included three attributes: ‘How the information is obtained’, regarding benefits and harms; whether there is a ‘Dialogue for scheduled mammography’ between the healthcare professional and the woman; and, ‘Who makes the decision’, regarding participation in BCSP. Data were obtained using a survey that included 12 choice tasks, 1 question on WTP and 7 socioeconomic-related questions. The analysis was performed using conditional mixed-effect logit regression and stratification according to WTP.SettingData collection related to BCSP was conducted between June and November 2021 in Catalonia, Spain.ParticipantsSixty-five women aged between 50 and 60.Main outcome measuresWomen’s perceived utility of each attribute, trade-off on these attributes and WTP for SDM in BCSP.ResultThe only significant attribute was ‘Who makes the decision’. The decision made alone (coefficient=2.879; 95% CI=2.297 to 3.461) and the decision made together with a healthcare professional (2.375; 95% CI=1.573 to 3.177) were the options preferred by women. The former contributes 21% more utility than the latter. Moreover, 52.3% of the women stated a WTP of €10 or more for SDM. Women’s preferences regarding attributes did not influence their WTP.ConclusionsThe participant women refused a current paternalistic model and preferred either SDM or informed decision-making in BCSP.