Abstract
Purpose
Many pharmacotherapeutic treatment options are available for the symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB), each offering varying efficacy, safety, and tolerability profiles that must be carefully considered when selecting treatment. The objective of the present study was to characterize pharmacotherapy treatment preferences of individuals with symptoms of OAB and to examine how preferences differ by both patient characteristics and disease burden metrics.
Patients and methods
Patient preferences for OAB treatment attributes were examined using a discrete choice experiment (DCE). Attributes were identified through literature review, clinical relevance, and input from patients. Eligible respondents were required to be ≥18 years of age, have a self-reported physician OAB diagnosis or have self-reported symptoms of OAB, and be naïve to pharmacotherapy or invasive OAB treatments. A hierarchical Bayesian random-effects-only model was used to estimate the mean relative preference weights and mean relative importance scores of treatment attributes. Multivariable linear regression models with backward selection were used to analyze the differences in relative importance scores by demographic characteristics and disease burden-related metrics.
Results
In total, 514 individuals participated in the study. Most respondents were <65 years of age (66.0%), female (68.5%), and reported moderate/severe OAB symptoms (64.2%). Overall, respondents placed the greatest importance on drug delivery method, with a preference for oral and patches over injectables, followed by efficacy defined as reduced daytime micturition and out-of-pocket cost. Multivariable linear regression analyses revealed that females were less likely to select injectables, that symptom control of incontinence was the most important to respondents who reported greater work productivity loss, and that out-of-pocket cost was the most important to respondents with moderate/severe OAB.
Conclusion
OAB treatment preferences vary depending on individual patient characteristics and disease severity. Overall, drug delivery method, reduced daytime micturition, and out-of-pocket costs were the most important treatment attributes among treatment-naïve individuals with symptoms of OAB. Preferences for OAB treatment were also found to vary depending on patient demographics and disease comorbidities, which has previously not been examined.
Supplementary materials
Table S1 Burden of OAB, by respondent characteristics
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Meagan Harwood, MPH, and Dr Karissa Johnston, PhD, for drafting, reviewing, and editing this manuscript. Meagan Harwood and Dr Johnston are employees of Broadstreet Health Economics & Outcomes Research, which received funding from Astellas in the conduct of this study. The abstract of this paper was presented at the ICS as an eposter presentation. Both the abstract and eposter are available on the congress website at https://www.ics.org/2018/abstract/154.
Disclosure
Walker and Gooch are/were employees of Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc., at the time of study completion. Athavale, Suh, Scaife, Haber, and Hadker are employees of Trinity Partners LLC, which received funding from Astellas for this study. Dmochowski provided consultation services in the conduct of this study, which was funded by Astella. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.