A Preference-Based Value Assessment of the Fear of COVID-19 Contagion

Figures & data

Table 1 Attributes and Levels for the DCE Survey Instrument

Attributes	Level
Chance of COVID-19 infection	1 out of 100,000 people 500 out of 100,000 people 1000 out of 100,000 people
Chance of having severe symptoms (eg, hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, machine supported breathing, or death) if you are infected with COVID-19	0 out of 100 people 5 out of 100 people 10 out of 100 people
Vaccine protection duration	6 months 12 months 18 months
Chance of mild to moderate adverse events (eg, pain in the injection site, fatigue, headache, or chills) from vaccination	0 out of 100 people 50 out of 100 people 100 out of 100 people
Chance of serious adverse events (eg, serious allergic reaction, blood clot in the veins) from vaccination	0 out of 100 people 1 out of 100 people 2 out of 100 people
Chance of future exposure to COVID-19 (meeting or contacting infected person), as a result of vaccination	No chance Medium chance High chance
Out-of-Pocket Cost	$0 $8000 $16,000

Figure 1 A choice set example.

Table 2 Participants’ Characteristics and COVID-19 Related Experiences

Characteristics
Age in years, mean (S.D.), N=544	57.2 (17.0)
Gender, N (%)
Female	305 (56.1)
Male	239 (43.9)
Race, N (%)
American Indian / Alaska Native	4 (0.7)
Asian / Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander	14 (2.6)
Black or African American	32 (5.9)
Hispanic American	34 (6.3)
White non-Hispanic / Caucasian	480 (88.2)
Multiple ethnicity / Others	14 (2.6)
Marital Status, N (%)
Single	97 (17.8)
Married	315 (57.9)
Divorced or separated/Widowed/Others	132 (24.3)
Household Income, N (%)
$100,000 or more per year	124 (22.8)
$50,000 to $99,999 per year	182 (33.5)
Less than $50,000 per year	238 (43.8)
Education, N (%)
High school or less than high school	96 (17.7)
Technical / vocational training	28 (5.2)
2-year college degree (Associate’s degree)	61 (11.2)
4-year college degree (eg, BA, BS)	160 (29.4)
Graduate or professional degree (eg, MBA, MS, MD, PhD)	81 (14.9)
Employment Status, N (%)
Employed full-time or self-employed or employed part-time	205 (37.7)
Retired and others (eg, unemployed)	339 (62.3)
Health Insurance, N (%)
Private insurance	173 (31.8)
Medicaid	56 (10.3)
Medicare	207 (38.0)
Veterans’ health insurance and Tricare	14 (2.6)
2 or more health insurance	94 (17.3)
Number of Comorbidities, N (%)
0	110 (20.2)
1	104 (19.1)
2 or more	330 (60.7)
Health Status, N (%)
Excellent	54 (9.9)
Very good	171 (31.4)
Good	205 (37.7)
Fair	93 (17.1)
Poor	21 (3.9)
COVID-19 related experiences
Are you vaccinated against COVID-19?, N (%)
Yes, fully vaccinated	415 (76.3)
Yes, partially vaccinated	17 (3.1)
No	112 (20.6)
Have you ever been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection? N(%)
Yes	275 (50.6)
No	269 (49.4)
If you have ever been diagnosed with COVID-19, what symptoms did you have? N (%)
Fever and chills	30 (10.9)
Cough	22 (8.0)
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing	35 (12.7)
Fatigue	36 (13.1)
Muscle or body aches	29 (10.6)
Headache	29 (10.6)
New loss of taste or smell	25 (9.1)
Sore throat	18 (6.6)
Congestion or runny nose	17 (6.2)
Nausea or vomiting	14 (5.1)
Diarrhea	8 (2.9)
Trouble breathing	5 (1.8)
Persistent pain or pressure in the chest	4 (1.5)
New confusion	1 (0.4)
Inability to wake or stay awake	2 (0.7)
If you have ever been diagnosed with COVID-19, were you hospitalized?, N (%)
Yes	38 (13.8)
No	237 (86.2)
Have any of your loved ones or relatives been diagnosed with COVID-19?, N (%)
Yes	404 (74.3)
No	140 (25.7)
Have any of your loved ones or relatives been hospitalized due to COVID-19?, N (%)
Yes	139 (25.6)
No	405 (74.4)
Have any of your loved ones or relatives died due to COVID-19?, N (%)
Yes	103 (18.9)
No	441 (81.1)
Have you or anyone in your household experienced a loss of employment or income due to COVID-19?, N (%)
Yes	114 (21.0)
No	430 (79.0)

Figure 2 Preference weights of study attributes from the mixed logit model. *Significant at 5% alpha.

Table 3 Estimated WTPs for Different Chances of COVID-19 Exposure

Chance of COVID-19 Exposure	Estimated WTP [95% CI]
High chance (COVID-19 is still a pandemic)	-$6135.0 [(-$5245.5)-(-$7095.0)]
Medium chance (COVID-19 still exists but is no longer a pandemic)	-$775.6 [(-$150.7)-(-$1411.2)]
No chance (COVID-19 disappears)	$6910.7 [$5889.9-$8042.0]

Figure 3 Preference weights of chance of future exposure and cost attributes from the latent class model. *Significant at 5% alpha.