An exploration of relative health stock in advanced cancer patients

Darrell J. Gaskin, Kevin P. Weinfurt, Liana D. Castel, Venita DePuy, Yun Li, Andrew Balshem, Al Benson, Caroline B. Burnett, Sandra Corbett, John Marshall, Elyse Slater, Daniel P. Sulmasy, David Van Echo, Neal J. Meropol, Kevin A. Schulman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective. The authors sought to empirically test whether relative health stock, a measure of patients' sense of loss in their health due to illness, influences the treatment decisions of patients facing life-threatening conditions. Specifically, they estimated the effect of relative health stock on advanced cancer patients' decisions to participate in phase I clinical trials. Method. A multicenter study was conducted to survey 328 advanced cancer patients who were offered the opportunity to participate in phase I trials. The authors asked patients to estimate the probabilities of therapeutic benefits and toxicity, their relative health stock, risk preference, and the importance of quality of life. Results. Controlling for health-related quality of life, an increase in relative health stock by 10 percentage points reduced the odds of choosing to participate in a phase I trial by 16% (odds ratio = 0.84, 95% confidence interval = 0.72, 0.97). Conclusion. Relative health stock affects advanced cancer patients' treatment decisions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)614-624
Number of pages11
JournalMedical Decision Making
Volume24
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2004

Keywords

  • Cancer
  • Clinical trials
  • Decision making
  • Patient preferences
  • Phase I trials

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy

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