OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate preferences from the Italian general population for route, frequency and location of treatment administration, independent of disease area.

METHODS:

We developed eight health states varying the route of administration (subcutaneous injection/intravenous infusion), frequency (every 1/2/4/8/12 weeks), and location (hospital/home) to correspond with treatment regimens for a number of commonly used biologic compounds. The time-trade-off (TTO) method was applied to elicit utility values associated with each health state. Respondents were repeatedly asked to ‘trade off’ a portion of their remaining lifespan for perfect health until a point of indifference was found. 1,547 respondents (≥ 18 years old) from the Italian general population who were recruited through a representative internet-based survey panel completed the questionnaire. A utility value was assigned to each health state based on each individual’s response, derived from the midpoint of the indifference interval.

RESULTS:

Respondents preferred less frequent administration both for subcutaneous injections (weekly subcutaneous injections at home: 0.859; bi-weekly: 0.859; 8-weekly: 0.871; 12-weekly: 0.874) and infusions (infusions at the hospital 4-weekly: 0.831; 8-weekly: 0.838). Additionally, respondents prefer a subcutaneous injection at home rather than at the hospital (subcutaneous injections every 12 weeks at the hospital: 0.870; at home: 0.874) and subcutaneous injection to infusion (treatment every 8 weeks at the hospital, infusion: 0.838; subcutaneous injection: 0.856). Receiving a subcutaneous injection at home every 12 weeks was preferred over all other health states (however not significantly for subcutaneous injection at home every 4/8 weeks).

CONCLUSIONS:

Route, frequency and location of administration matter for members of the general public as they have an impact on convenience. The best combination of administration and frequency is receiving a subcutaneous injection every 12 weeks at home, showing that more convenient treatment regimens are associated with higher utility values.