Purpose: Personal preferences play an important role in the patients' decision process whether to adhere to treatment, or not. The purpose of this study is to assess Polish outpatients' preferences for solid forms of oral medications across various scenarios.
Methods: The convenience sample of 200 outpatients took part in this study. According to the discrete choice experiment (DCE) design, participants were provided with selection of tablets and capsules, in different shapes, sizes, colors, and copayment levels and were asked to state their preferences. DCE results were analyzed using mixed logit (MXL) models.
Results: MXL models revealed patients' willingness to pay for various solid forms of medications. The most preferred combination of drug parameters were: small yellow capsule for chronic treatment, and small yellow long tablet for short-term treatment. Study participants were happy to pay extra 6.52 PLN (≈1.63 EUR) for this drug formulation per month of antihypertensive treatment, and 14.44 PLN (≈3.61 EUR) for this drug formulation per 7-days' long course of antibiotic treatment, respectively.
Conclusion: Results suggest that color, shape, and size of solid form of oral medications are important predictors of patients' acceptance. It can not only be expressed in monetary value, but also may serve as an important hint for companies designing new drugs, or policymakers who are happy to improve patient adherence with better prescribing, or dispensing. However, our findings are probably country-specific, and further research is necessary to better understand the relationship between solid drug characteristics, and patient's preferences across countries.
Keywords: capsules; discrete choice; medication adherence; patient preferences; tablets.