Defining Utility Values for Patients with Tardive Dyskinesia

CASE STUDY
First published October 2022
Results published: https://doi.org/10.1080/03007995.2021.2022918

SurveyEngine performed a time trade-off (TTO) study to measure health state preferences and estimate utility values from the perspective of the US general population, accounting for factors affecting quality of life.

THE PROJECT

Antipsychotic medications are often used to treat mental disorders. Despite their efficacy in treating symptoms, they are associated with significant side effects, including persistent Tardive Dyskinesia (TD).

A leading US consultancy firm commissioned SurveyEngine to develop a study aiming to understand the US population’s views on the utility values of Tardive Dyskinesia (TD). The client wanted to use the time trade-off valuation technique, which is widely used in the determination of utility values of health outcomes yet is very burdensome on respondents so the study required recruitment and interview measures beyond a typical online survey.

Technical solution

This project required the display of health states, as well as instructional videos to explain those states. The time trade-off tasks were implemented based on a decision tree following the Euroqol EQ-VT protocol.

While TTO studies traditionally are conducted face-to-face, SurveyEngine enabled a virtual interviewer setting: Interviews were conducted over the phone while the moderator was able to follow the respondents’ decision path by observing their mouse movements, without requiring them to fully share their screens.

Recruitment solution

Since the study was conducted online, recruitment, scheduling, and data collection processes were much more cost efficient than a face-to-face setup. It also eliminated the geographic limitation that in-person studies impose, ensuring stronger national representativeness of the sample population.

Using the virtual moderation setup, the study complied with privacy and data security rules. Thus, the design provided the best of both worlds: high-quality results of a moderated study with the flexibility of an online survey.