OBJECTIVES: The Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) is a quantitative method increasingly used in healthcare to elicit patient preferences without directly asking them to state their preferred options. Patient preferences are not often explored and documented in the literature. The objective of this study is to elicit patients' preferences using a DCE in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology with the example of pen injector used for ovarian stimulation.

METHODS: The DCE is a stated preferences method which requires respondents to make trade-offs for various pen injector characteristics (called attributes). Pen-injector characteristics were identified by a literature review and expert interviews, including patient associations. A DCE questionnaire with 12 choice sets was developed to measure the preferences for six pen characteristics. The online survey was sent to patients from French patient associations. A mixed logistic model was used to identify preference ranks and compute a utility score for each pen injector.

RESULTS: The study involved 155 women, who demonstrated the strongest preferences towards the post-injection display and the injection device attributes. Statistically significant results showed that the most essential characteristics concerning the pen injector used for ovarian stimulation were dose confirmation (p<0,0001), dose counter with digits (p<0,0001), multi-use pen (p<0.0001) and ready-to-use pens (p<0.0001). Estimation of the disutility of each pen's characteristics showed statistically significant difference in favor of pen A (reference modalities) versus the other pens, with the largest difference being with pen B (Score = -1,11 ; 95% CI [-1,37 ; -0,85]), and pen C (Score = -1,89 ; 95% CI [-2,25 ; -1,52]).

CONCLUSIONS: This stated preference method enables to determine what drives patient preferences regarding their treatment. In the study, the characteristics preferred by patients are in line with the notion of efficacy and performance. Treatment optimization, adherence and success is increased by considering the needs and preferences of each patient.