OBJECTIVES

This was to examine preference of hemophilia A patients/parents for the treatments in Korea.

METHODS

Hemophilia A patients, who have continued the current treatment over 1month, or parents of pediatric patients were enrolled from 05-Apr-2018 to 19-Sep-2019 in 6 hospitals where are representative for hemophilia treatment in Korea. We performed DCE with 10 series of 2 hypothetical treatment options created from a D-efficient block design, which varied across 5 attributes; device types(prefilled dual chamber syringe;PDC, prefilled syringe connected with a vial, and two connected vials), frequency of administration(≥2times/week, 1time/week,＜2times/month), number of vials/administration(1, 2, 3 vials), volume of diluted solution(≤5ml, 6~10ml, 11~20ml), time required for reconstitution(<1, 1~2, ≥2 minutes). Count analysis performed based on the frequency of chosen option as ‘best’ and not chosen option as ‘worst’. Positive BW(Best-Worst) score indicates predominantly “best” choice. A conditional logistic regression model with 3 most important attributes selected from univariable conditional logistic regressions was used to estimate part-worth utility which indicates more preference with higher utility.

RESULTS

Total 505 patients (age:31.5) have treated hemophilia A for mean 102months. 53.5% of patients treated as prophylaxis, 22.2% as on demand way. Around 80% of patients used two connected vials while only 6.3% of patients used PDC syringes. According to BW score, under 2times/month administration(0.39), PDC(0.22), and<1minute for reconstitution(0.12) were strongly preferred whereas ≥2times/month administration(-0.42), 2vials/administration(-0.19), and two connected vials(-0.12) were mostly rejected. In regression, frequency of administration and type of device were relatively the most important attributes and lesser frequent and PDC within the attributes showed higher part-worth utility, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients/parents who self-administer injections of hemophilia A treatments preferred simpler options for administration such as lesser frequency of drug administration and easier device type in Korea. Those preferred options should be more actively considered in the selection of treatment options in real practice.