OBJECTIVES: RSV is a common viral pathogen that primarily affects the respiratory system, causing respiratory tract infections in individuals of all ages. The objective of the study was to obtain RSV-related health utility values for older adults and their caregivers from the Japanese adult population.

METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational study collected data from 241 Japanese adults (≥18 years) using an online survey comprised of six vignettes describing different types of RSV-related health states for patients and their informal caregivers: 1) severe lower respiratory tract disease (sLRTD), 2) lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) and 3) upper respiratory tract disease (URTD). Patient is assumed to be 70-years-old. Vignettes were developed and validated by clinicians, health outcomes researchers, patients, and caregivers. Using a TTO approach, participants were asked to quantify the number of days they would be willing to trade off from their end of life to avoid the described health states. Quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) losses were calculated by dividing the TTO values by 365.

RESULTS: 1,770 potential participants completed the screener. After excluding 1,529 participants due to low completion time, inconsistent responses or indicating the same non-zero value across vignettes, 241 participants were considered for analysis (including 45 caregivers). Given the significant skewness in the distribution of TTO values, median values were reported. Discounted median TTO values were 73 (sLRTD), 22 (LRTD), and 7 (URTD) days to avoid each RSV episode; and 31, 16, and 3 days to avoid the corresponding burden of providing care to a family-member experiencing those. These values represented QALY losses of 0.200, 0.060, and 0.018 for patients and 0.086, 0.043, and 0.008 for caregivers, respectively for sLRTD, LRTD and URTD.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that Japanese individuals are willing to trade-off a considerable number of days from their end of life to prevent experiencing an RSV episode or its associated caregiver burden.