Public Preferences for Digital Therapies in Alzheimer's Disease Treatment: A Discrete Choice Experiment in China (Preprint)

<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that significantly impacts cognitive function and quality of life, with increasing prevalence and incidence. Digital therapeutics have emerged as a promising approach for managing Alzheimer's disease, offering non-invasive therapies such as cognitive training and wearable devices. These therapies are gaining traction in China, where they are classified as Class II or III medical devices by the National Medical Products Administration . While clinical studies have shown the efficacy of Digital therapeutics, there is limited research on public preferences for digital therapies, especially in China. This study aims to assess the preferences of individuals, including caregivers, for Digital therapeutics in Alzheimer's disease through a discrete choice experiment conducted across three provinces in China. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> To identify and quantify public preferences for digital therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease treatment and to ascertain their willingness to pay for digital therapeutics. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> Discrete choice experiments is conducted in Jiangsu, Anhui, and Shanxi, China. eight attributes is defined and used: medical devices operational steps, training methods, therapy locations, therapy frequency, therapy duration, cost, and monitoring locations. Stratified sampling was conducted separately in the eastern, central, and western parts of China. The conditional logit model and mixed logit model estimated the stated preferences for attributes. Relative importance scores and willingness to pay estimates were calculated. Additionally, we conducted subgroup analyses based on four demographic characteristics of the public: sex, age, per family monthly income, and whether they are family members of Alzheimer's disease patients. </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> A total of 315 residents completed the experiment (182 (57.46%) were female respondents). In general, ranked from the largest to smallest relative importance score, the significant attributes were cost (56.1%), therapy duration (19.5%), monitoring locations (13.5%), therapy frequency (8.34%), therapy location (6.97%), medical device (4.24%), operation steps (3.89%), and training method (2.10%). The results indicate that different attributes have varying degrees of influence on the public. At the same time, individuals with different demographic characteristics exhibit distinct preferences for different attributes. </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> The cost, convenience, and compliance of digital therapeutics are the main factors influencing the public's decision. The social care system for Alzheimer's disease patients requires further improvement in China. Different demographic groups have varying preferences for attributes, thus further research is required to delve deeper into specific populations like Alzheimer's disease caregivers. </sec> <sec> <title>CLINICALTRIAL</title> Digital Therapeutics; Discrete choice experiment; Societal preference; Willingness to pay; Relative importance; China </sec>