Early Results from a Choice Based Conjoint Analysis Assessing Patient Preferences for Selected Features of Erythropoietic Agents.

Background: Understanding patients’ preferences regarding treatment features is important, as they may not be aligned with those of providers. Epoetin alfa (EPO) and darbepoetin alfa (DARB) are two erythropoietic agents indicated for the treatment of chemotherapy-related anemia (CRA) to increase hemoglobin (Hb) levels and reduce transfusion requirements. These outcomes are associated with fatigue reduction and improved quality of life (QoL), but the degree of improvement and current dosing schedules for both agents may vary. Preliminary results from a comparative trial suggest EPO provides a greater early and overall Hb rise compared to DARB at the commonly prescribed doses (EPO 40,000 units weekly vs. DARB 200 mcg every two weeks) (

Objective: To assess patient preferences for two attributes, effectiveness and convenience, associated with the use of erythropoietic agents.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of adults (age 18+) with solid tumor cancers and anemia is on going. 500 planned participants are being recruited through 50 oncologists’ offices across the U.S. Information is collected via a self-administered questionnaire that is divided into two parts. The first, completed by the provider, captures clinical information; the second, completed by patients records their knowledge, experience and preferences regarding anemia and its treatments, including resource use, QoL and productivity. This preliminary analysis focuses on the choice based conjoint (CBC) section of the questionnaire that assesses effectiveness, defined as time to a noticeable relief of fatigue, and convenience, defined as number of provider visits during an 8-week period. Each attribute has three levels (4, 6, and 8 weeks or visits).

Results: 276 provider/patient-matched questionnaires have been received. 264 providers and 237 patients have completed the CBC section (96% and 86% response rates, respectively). 80% of providers view time to a noticeable relief of fatigue as being more important to patients than frequency of visits when choosing a medication to treat anemia. Similarly, patients also view time to a noticeable relief of fatigue as being the more important characteristic of anemia medications (1.8 times more important than frequency of visits). For time to a noticeable relief of fatigue, patients prefer an early onset (4 over 6 over 8 weeks). For convenience, patients prefer 8 over 6 over 4 visits during an 8-week period.

Conclusion: Providers and patients both view effectiveness as a more important attribute of anemia treatment over convenience. While patients prefer relief of fatigue as soon as possible, interestingly, their preference to see providers more frequently rather than less may be contrary to some providers’ beliefs.