OBJECTIVES: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic condition characterised by deficient secretion of insulin along with insulin resistance, and consequent poor glycaemic control. The variety of possible therapies available for T2DM requires payers and prescribers to consider the additional effects and requirements of treatment regimens, beyond simply their impact on glycaemic control. As side effects and treatment complexity are known to affect adherence, it is therefore important to consider patient preferences for all effects and requirements of therapy.

METHODS: We completed a targeted literature review across multiple databases to identify published literature detailing methods of determining patient preference and willingness-to-pay for treatments for T2DM.

RESULTS: The literature review identified 32 publications of relevance to the study objectives. The majority of these studies (n=29) used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) study design and most studies were completed in the US (n=13). Attributes of treatment preference presented to patients ranged across the studies and included: hypoglycaemic events, cardiovascular health, weight changes, mode of administration and characteristics of device. Patient preference for oral versus injectable therapy was most commonly studied (n=13), followed by injection only (n=8) and oral only (n=5). The most common attributes from participants were: age (n=27), gender (n=27), education (n=20), duration with diabetes (n=19) and HbA_1c level (n=19). Both glucose control (n=5) and number of hypoglycaemia events (n=5) were the second most important attributes to a patient. All studies measuring patient preference for oral versus injectable therapy showed oral therapy was preferred.

CONCLUSIONS: In general, identified publications were consistent in the approaches taken to develop surveys, collect and analyse preference data. Recommendations for future research from this review include: employing a forced-choice DCE methodology, using approximately 6 attributes in choice sets, attributes should be selected following consultation with experienced persons.