Patients' preferences for bone metastases treatments in Turkey

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To assess patient preference for the currently available bone-targeted agents (BTAs) used to prevent skeletal-related events (SREs; commonly defined as pathologic fracture, radiation to bone, surgery to bone and spinal cord compression) in Turkey.

METHODS: Adult patients with a self-reported physician diagnosis of bone metastases secondary to a solid tumor were recruited in several hospitals to complete a pencil and paper discrete-choice experiment survey consisting of a series of 10 choices between pairs of hypothetical medication profiles. Each profile was defined using five attributes with several levels (based on prescribing information): time until first SRE (10, 18 and 28 months); time until worsening of pain (3, 6 and 10 months); annual risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ; 0, 1 and 5%); annual risk of renal impairment (0, 4 and 10%); and mode of administration (daily oral tablet, or subcutaneous injection, 15-minutes or 120-minute intravenous infusion every 4 weeks). Twelve versions of the 10-questions were sequentially administrated across participants. A main-effects random parameters logit model was estimated.

RESULTS: A total of 91 patients were included in the analysis and provided demographic information. Among the attributes included in the survey, annual risk of renal impairment, time until worsening of pain and delaying SREs were the three most important attributes, with better levels of outcomes preferred to worse levels. Daily oral administration was the preferred mode of administration and there was no statistically significant difference between injection and infusion of different durations. Annual risk of ONJ was judged by patients to be the least important attribute.

CONCLUSIONS: When considering treatment choices, patients in Turkey focused mainly on the risk of renal impairment, the delay of pain worsening and delaying SREs.