EMPLOYEES' WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR INFLUENZA VACCINATION OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS– RESULTS FROM THE CHILD AND HOUSEHOLD INFLUENZA-ILLNESS AND EMPLOYEE FUNCTION (CHIEF) STUDY
Author(s)
Matthew D Rousculp, PhD, MPH, Associate Director1, Liisa Palmer, PhD, Scientist2, Stephen Johnston, MS, Senior Analyst3, Parthiv J. Mahadevia, MD, MPH, Senior Director1, Kristin L Nichol, MD, MPH, Chief of Medicine and Director, Primary and Subspecialty Medicine Service Line41MedImmune, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD, USA; 2 Thomson Reuters, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; 3 Thomson Healthcare, Inc, Washington, DC, USA; 4 Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA
OBJECTIVES Quantify employees' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for prevention of personal and household member (HHM) influenza-like illness (ILI) and evaluate if WTP varies by child vs. adult, prior season ILI, and vaccination beliefs. METHODS The CHIEF Study was a prospective cohort study of 2,295 U.S. employees with children among three Fortune 500 companies. Personal and HHM-ILI was self-reported monthly between 11/07-4/08. The WTP for ILI prevention for employees, adult- and child-HHMs, personal and HHM influenza vaccination status, and reasons for vaccination/non-vaccination were captured. RESULTS For employees with complete monthly survey data (n=1,990), results show a mean WTP for ILI-prevention of $72.00 (self), $81.94 (adult-HHM), and $140.49 (child-HHM). Employee WPT for ILI prevention was significantly different for adult-HHMs vs. child-HHMs (p<0.001). Employee WTP for ILI prevention for those who recently experienced ILI was $71.45 (self), $80.98 (adult-HHM), and $143.93 (child-HHM); WTP was $72.32 (self), $82.50 (adult-HHM), and $135.38 (child-HHM) for those not reporting ILI. In comparing the vaccinated vs. non-vaccinated cohorts, WTP to prevent ILI was significantly higher among vaccinated employees than non-vaccinated ($86.13 vs. $62.99, respectively; p=0.003). Employees with ≥1 vaccinated child reported higher WTP to prevent child-HHM ILI than employees without vaccinated children ($190.06 vs. $116.58, respectively; p=0.002). Differences in WTP for vaccinated and non-vaccinated adult-HHM were not significant. Belief that vaccination is an important part of healthy lifestyle and that vaccination is effective was associated with higher WTP, while reporting cost as barrier to vaccination was associated with a lower WTP for personal and child-HHM ILI-prevention. CONCLUSIONS Employees expressed a high WTP for influenza prevention, especially for child-HHM. Recent history of ILI did not change employees' WTP but belief in influenza prevention did. Strategies to improve vaccine coverage should focus on the value of influenza prevention.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2009-05, ISPOR 2009, Orlando, FL, USA
Value in Health, Vol. 12, No. 3 (May 2009)
Code
PIN45
Topic
Health Policy & Regulatory
Topic Subcategory
Public Spending & National Health Expenditures
Disease
Infectious Disease (non-vaccine), Vaccines