Abstract
Objective: To develop and test a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) survey for eliciting adolescent and parent preferences for dental care for hypodontia (a developmental condition where one or more teeth fail to develop).
Design: Mixed methods study
Participants: Adolescents (12-16 years) with hypodontia and their parents, dentists providing hypodontia care.
Methods: Stage One: Attribute development involving 1) Attribute identification: Systematic review of hypodontia literature; Interviews with adolescents with hypodontia (n=8) and parents (n=8); Observation of hypodontia clinical consultations (n=5); Environmental scan of hypodontia patient information resources (n=30); Systematic analysis of social-media posts (n=176). 2) Attribute selection: Stakeholder consultation to develop items for a questionnaire; Rating and ranking questionnaire for adolescents with hypodontia and parents (n=18); Further stakeholder consultation. Stage Two: DCE survey development. Stage Three: Pre-testing using cognitive interviews with adolescents (n=12) and parents (n=8) to assess face and content validity.
Results: 27 attributes focusing on service delivery and treatment outcome were included in the attribute long list, from which 7 ‘important’ attributes were selected for pre-testing. Cognitive interviewing suggested adolescents found the DCE Choice Tasks challenging to understand; the survey was modified to enhance its acceptability. One attribute was excluded based on poor validity with adolescents. Pre-testing suggested DCE Choice Tasks encouraged thinking and discussion about preferences for treatment.
Conclusions: Inclusion of the target respondent group in all stages of DCE development ensured the final DCE survey is valid and acceptable. DCE methods appear to be a useful tool for exploring joint decision-making alongside conventional preference elicitation.
Design: Mixed methods study
Participants: Adolescents (12-16 years) with hypodontia and their parents, dentists providing hypodontia care.
Methods: Stage One: Attribute development involving 1) Attribute identification: Systematic review of hypodontia literature; Interviews with adolescents with hypodontia (n=8) and parents (n=8); Observation of hypodontia clinical consultations (n=5); Environmental scan of hypodontia patient information resources (n=30); Systematic analysis of social-media posts (n=176). 2) Attribute selection: Stakeholder consultation to develop items for a questionnaire; Rating and ranking questionnaire for adolescents with hypodontia and parents (n=18); Further stakeholder consultation. Stage Two: DCE survey development. Stage Three: Pre-testing using cognitive interviews with adolescents (n=12) and parents (n=8) to assess face and content validity.
Results: 27 attributes focusing on service delivery and treatment outcome were included in the attribute long list, from which 7 ‘important’ attributes were selected for pre-testing. Cognitive interviewing suggested adolescents found the DCE Choice Tasks challenging to understand; the survey was modified to enhance its acceptability. One attribute was excluded based on poor validity with adolescents. Pre-testing suggested DCE Choice Tasks encouraged thinking and discussion about preferences for treatment.
Conclusions: Inclusion of the target respondent group in all stages of DCE development ensured the final DCE survey is valid and acceptable. DCE methods appear to be a useful tool for exploring joint decision-making alongside conventional preference elicitation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Patient |
| Early online date | 26 Oct 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 26 Oct 2018 |