PREFER DIABETES
An online learning to inform patients and assess patient preferences.
PREFER is a 5-year, IMI-funded, project that aims to investigate how and when patient preferences regarding the benefit/risk of drugs can be used in the medical product lifecycle. As part of the project, researchers are evaluating various research questions in clinical patient preference case studies.
One of the case studies being evaluated in PREFER is in the area of diabetes. The diabetes case study is led by the Erasmus University Rotterdam and University Medical Centre Utrecht. To support this case study, MindBytes developed interactive educational tools to inform patients on several aspects of the study:
- The study objective
- The attributes of the different methods of glucose monitoring
- The preference survey methods, which included discrete choice experiment and swing weighting methodology
Stable glucose
Diabetes care focuses on keeping glucose levels as close to normal as possible. This can be done through the self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), medication, diet and physical activity.
New glucose monitoring devices
The traditional finger prick (often multiple times a day) has been challenged by recent developments in glucose monitoring. New devices give patients a large variety of choices in regard to function, features, cost, and other factors. They need to consider this all when choosing which glucose monitor is best for them.
What influences preferences?
In this PREFER study, the aim is to determine the preferences and trade-offs of diabetics when making this choice. Next to that, this study also checks if these outcomes are influenced by type of preference elicitation method used, the kind of educational tool they are presented with, the way patients are recruited, and patient characteristics or experiences.