Using Discrete-Choice Experiment Methods to Estimate the Value of Informal Care: The Case of Children with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

A representative sample of 198 caregivers completed the survey (response rate 52%). Participants were recruited in Australia. Overall, caregivers would accept a minimum of Australian dollars ($A)20.61 to provide 1 h of care. The preferences for assistance varied significantly with different types of care tasks. Individuals placed the highest value on receiving assistance with social support ($A35.96) and the least value on receiving assistance with household errands ($A-0.92) CONCLUSIONS: This study produces a value of informal care provided to children with ID that can be directly applied in economic evaluations. The study shows that informal care tasks are not valued equally. Caregivers placed the most value on receiving assistance with social support, which may reflect the time spent by caregivers on these tasks.

Use of Productivity Loss/Gain in Cost-Effectiveness Analyses for Drugs: A Systematic Review

“…Based on this, greater discussion of approaches to measuring caregiver productivity more readily may be important. This topic was taken up during a special themed edition of PharmacoEconomics in April 2019, with several publications focusing on challenges and approaches to the valuation of caregiver time costs [44][45][46].…”

Advances in Methods and Novel Applications for Measuring Family Spillover Effects of Illness

“…Grosse et al provide a thorough and comprehensive review of alternative methodologies and highlight how the selection of methods can impact results and impede comparisons across analyses [7]. This overview is complemented by three examples of specific methods for valuing time: willingness to pay of a caregiver intervention [8], a discrete choice experiment to value informal care for children with intellectual disability using a willingness-to-pay approach [9], and a discrete choice experiment to value an hour of informal care using a willingness-to-accept approach [10]. The final paper in this set presents the "iCare" tool developed by Gheorge et al, which provides an algorithm for estimating mean hours of informal care based on patient-level EQ-5D data [11].…”

Outcome measures for economic evaluations and cost‐effectiveness analyses of interventions for people with intellectual disabilities: A methodological systematic review

“…As cited in this study (Lamsal & Zwicker, 2017 ), formal methods of incorporating these effects in economic evaluations have been proposed by Basu and Meltzer ( 2005 ), through a household utility function accounting for different effects on family welfare, and by Al‐Janabi et al ( 2016 ), through multiplier effects which could capture benefits and disbenefits triggered by the interventions. Specifically for children with intellectual disabilities, Arora et al ( 2019 ) used a discrete choice experiment to estimate the monetary value of informal care which is directly based on the preferences of the caregivers (Arora et al, 2019 ). However, Lamsal and Zwicker ( 2017 ) also pointed to the lack of a consensus over the most appropriate methodology to use to incorporate spillover effects, and the scarcity of evidence in the NDDs area.…”