Prospects that accompany medications usually go unnoticed or be considered -simply as a legal requirement. Sin embargo, could it have an intrinsic value for citizens beyond clinical information? This is the question that the study entitled The intrinsic value of the information contained in medical brochuresRecredenly awarded the award Alexandre Pedrós To the best article published in Spanish Public Finance / Public Economy Review In 2024.
The work, signed by José María Abellán-Pperpiñán, Fernando -ignacio Sánchez-Martínez, Jorge-Eduardo Martínez-Pérez and Jorge-Luis Gómez-Torres, of the University of Murcia, uses the methodology of the Contingent value To estimate how much the population would be disputed to receive clear and compensible quantitative information on the effectiveness and adverse effects of a medication. This technique, based on surveys, allows to assign a monetary value to unlatted goods, such as the quality of health information information.
Why value the prospoin?
Standard economic theory usually focuses on the tangible results of a health intervention, such as the years of life. Sin embargo, authors such as Donaldson and Shackley (1997) They have argued that the characteristics of the «process», such as the way in which the information is transmitted, also generates utility. The prospect, in this sense, represents a key communication channel that can improve the perception of treatment and encourage adhesion. Communicating risks in a commitment and visual way, especially means of natural fences, can reduce the erroneous perception of adverse effects and increase patient’s confidence.
Study design
The study designed a contingent value survey administered to 217 adults in the Region of Murcia. Two versions of the prospect of a hypothetical medicine (an anticoagulant) were compared: one traditional (Figure 1) and another, presented as a complementary brochure to the traditional prospect, which included quantitative data on efficacy and risks in understandable visual formats (Figure 2), according to recommendations based on evidence on risk communication (Gigerenzer et al., 2007; Yamagishi, 1997; Pinto et al., 2006).
Figure 1. The traditional prospect
Figure 2. The complementary brochure
In order that the survey included in the benefits and risks of taking the anicoagulant, they were given some explanate cards of what they represent a suffering a myocardial infarction and a digestive bleeding. Figure 3 Maudra the card used to describe this last one.
Figure 3. Explanatory card of a digestive hemorrhage
The Maudra was divided into two groups. In Group 1, participants valued the medication and additional brochure separately, through two questions to pay (DAP). Figure 4 Maudra the cardboard of payments used in this group to assess the additional brochure. In Group 2, on the other hand, a single DAP question was asked to each interviewee, to obtain its joint joint assessment of the medicine plus the brochure and, a continuum, it was requested that there were percentage percentage of its daps corresponding to the wing of the specifies, to the fleto, the one that was. Effect an analog visual scale from 0 to 100. This double strategy allowed to verify the robustness of the answers and detect possible Elicitation effects (Tversky et al., 1988)That is, contradictions between two ways of asking equivalent logicas. In DAP’s asking, a mixed format was used, which combined a different possible contained payments cardboard.
Figure 4. Payment cardboard for the value of information on risks and side effects (Group 1)
Main hypotheses and results of the experiment
The hypothesis of the experiment states that the provision at the disposal of the intrinsic page.
The results Confirmation Hypothesis (Table 1), observing in both groups a positive DAP for the additional brochure. In Group 1 this DAP was obtained directly, separately, while in group 2 the values were calculated by applying to the DAP jointly by the medicine the medicine the brochure the percentage attributed to the latter by the el el el el el elfs in the visual scale. The participants showed a DAP to mean different from zero, in statiny terms, for receiving additional information from between € 0.60 and € 1 per month, values comparable with studies such as de de Dealy et al. (2021) In the United States.
Table 1. dispositionis to pay (DAP) for the complementary brochure (€)
In Group 2, although 35 people declared a null value for the brochure, the average value resulting from being significant higher than that of group 1. This difference can be expressed by the overestimation, due to a certain degree of inaccuracy in preferences (Dubourg et al., 1997) or as a consequence of an atheno effect (Bordalo et al., 2016).
In addition, economic analyzes showed that the DAP is positively related to the level of income and age (although non -linear), which supports the theoretical validity of the instrument used.
Conclusion
Study relieves the economic value that citizens assign to the fact of having clear and understandable information in medicines, and the relevant implications relevant to those responsible for the sanitary health. In a context of growing concern about Literacy in healthIntegrating tools of communication more effective and adapted to the patient’s abilities becomes not only an ethical issue, also economic sinus.
The study contributes to literature on the value of non -market goods, showing that inclusion intangible aspects such as the form of clarity of information have value for citizens. However, the study suffers from limitations such as the size and representative of the miscin, as well as not having intertwined a real patient. It is also worth highlighting the high level of anumerism detected in our teacher, where only 36% of the interviewees postponed to possess sufficient numerical skills as for interpretation correction pokety risks; An important barrier for adequate competition of quantitative information, already indicated by García-Relaro et al. (2019)Inter alia.
Likewise, the results suggest that the way in which the value of the information can be notable in the answers. This invites a reflection on the need to develop more solid and sensitive methodologies to capture citizen preferences in health information. The combination of contingent value methods with Disceta choice experiments could be a promising way for future investigations.
