Preferences and values for government policies on infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics for the Japanese population: a conjoint analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1. An example of choice task questions in the survey for the conjoint analysis.

Table 1. Attributes and levels for each attribute in conjoint analysis.

Attributes	Levels	Descriptions presented to the respondents in the card
I. Tests	Not available Under a physician’s supervision Anytime, anywhere	Cannot take tests Can take tests under a physician’s supervision if you have symptoms Can take tests anytime, anywhere, if desired
II. Vaccines	Not available To prevent infection To prevent infection and severe symptoms	Cannot receive vaccines Can receive vaccines that are expected to be effective in preventing infection Can receive vaccines that are expected to be effective in preventing infection and severe symptoms
III. Therapeutic drugs	Not available To hospitalized patients To high-risk patients and hospitalized patients To anyone at any medical facility	No access to therapeutic drugs Prescription of therapeutic drugs only to hospitalized patients Prescription of therapeutic drugs to high-risk patients, such as the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions, in addition to hospitalized patients, at a limited number of medical facilities Prescription of therapeutic drugs to anyone at any medical facility, if desired
IV. Behavior restrictions	Not available Self-restraint for food/beverage establishments Self-restraint for individuals and restrictions on food/beverage establishments Restrictions on individuals and food/beverage establishments	No requirements of self-restraint for individuals and on food/beverage establishments Requirements of self-restraint for food/beverage establishments, but not for individuals Requirements of self-restraint for individuals and restrictions on food/beverage establishments Restrictions on individuals and food/beverage establishments
V. Entry restrictions	Not available Government monitoring Quarantine Entry prohibition	No restrictions on entry from abroad Government monitoring of those entering from abroad after entry Requirements of quarantine for a certain period after entry for those entering from abroad Prohibition of entry into Japan from abroad
VI. Consumption tax rate for 1 year after an epidemic until it subsides	+1% +2% +5% +10%	Temporary increase from 10% to 11% Temporary increase from 10% to 12% Temporary increase from 10% to 15% Temporary increase from 10% to 20%

Table 2. Distribution of respondents by gender and age.

Gender and age	Number (total 2,185)	Percentage
Gender
Male	1,087	49.7%
Female	1,098	50.3%
Age
18–29 years	331	15.1%
30–39 years	323	14.8%
40–49 years	419	19.2%
50–59 years	381	17.4%
60–69 years	359	16.4%
70–79 years	372	17.0%

Figure 2. Preference level for each valuable for all respondents. I. Tests, II. Vaccines, III. Therapeutic drugs, IV. Behavior restrictions, V. Entry restrictions. Preference levels for an increase in the consumption tax rate are indicated with an increase rate with a mean (solid line) and 95% confidential intervals (dotted lines). The amount of the increase in the consumption tax rate is indicated in parentheses at the bottom of the graph.

Table 3. Preference level and monetary value of each level for each attribute for all respondents.

Attributes	Levels	Preference level				^aMonetary value (as a consumption tax rate)
		Mean	SE	95% CI		Mean	95% CI
Tests	Not available	0.0000				0.00%
	Under a physician’s supervision	0.3637	0.0177	0.3290	0.3984	1.87%	1.64%	2.11%
	Anytime, anywhere	0.4061	0.0179	0.3710	0.4412	2.16%	1.92%	2.41%
Vaccines	Not available	0.0000				0.00%
	To prevent infection	0.4543	0.0177	0.4196	0.4890	2.50%	2.26%	2.73%
	To prevent infection and severe symptoms	0.4576	0.0180	0.4223	0.4929	2.52%	2.28%	2.76%
Therapeutic drugs	Not available	0.0000				0.00%
	To hospitalized patients	0.3852	0.0205	0.3450	0.4254	2.02%	1.75%	2.30%
	To high-risk patients and hospitalized patients	0.6165	0.0206	0.5761	0.6569	3.61%	3.33%	3.89%
	To anyone at any medical facility	0.7538	0.0209	0.7128	0.7948	4.80%	4.39%	5.20%
Behavior restrictions	Not available	0.0000				0.00%
	Self-restraint for food/beverage establishments	0.0055	0.0204	−0.0345	0.0455	0.02%	−0.15%	0.19%
	Self-restraint for individuals and restrictions on food/beverage establishments	−0.0129	0.0208	−0.0537	0.0279	−0.05%	−0.23%	0.12%
	Restrictions on individuals and food/beverage establishments	−0.0548	0.0203	−0.0946	−0.0150	−0.23%	−0.40%	−0.06%
Entry restrictions	Not available	0.0000				0.00%
	Government monitoring	0.1801	0.0204	0.1401	0.2201	0.76%	0.59%	0.93%
	Quarantine	0.2146	0.0207	0.1740	0.2552	0.91%	0.74%	1.13%
	Entry prohibition	0.1449	0.0202	0.1053	0.1845	0.61%	0.45%	0.78%
Consumption tax rate for 1 year after an epidemic until it subsides.	+1%	0.0000
	+2%	−0.2364	0.0203	−0.2762	−0.1966
	+5%	−0.6735	0.0207	−0.7141	−0.6329
	+10%	−1.1784	0.0216	−1.2207	−1.1361

Abbreviations. CI, confidence interval; SE, standard error.

^aThe preference level for each level for the attributes was converted to the monetary value (as an increase in the consumption tax rate from the current rate, 10%) by comparing the preference level for the consumption tax rate attribute.

Figure 3. The monetary value of each level for each attribute by subgroups. Numbers in parentheses represent the number of respondents in each subgroup. Abbreviation: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; w/, with.