We found a continuing trend towards conducting DCEs across a broader range of countries .
However , the trend towards including fewer attributes was reversed , whilst the trend towards interview-based DCEs reversed because of increased computer administration .
The trend towards using more flexible econometric models , including mixed logit and latent class , has also continued .
Reporting of monetary values has fallen compared with earlier periods , but the proportion of studies estimating trade-offs between health outcomes and experience factors , or valuing outcomes in terms of utility scores , has increased , although use of odds ratios and probabilities has declined .
The reassuring trend towards the use of more flexible and appropriate DCE design s and econometric methods has been reinforced by the increased use of qualitative methods to inform DCE processes and results .
However , qualitative research methods are being used less often to inform attribute selection , which may make DCEs more susceptible to omitted variable bias if the decision framework is not known prior to the research project .
Background Discrete choice experiments ( DCEs ) are increasingly used in health economics to address a wide range of health policy-related concerns .
Objective Broadly adopting the methodology of an earlier systematic review of health-related DCEs , which covered the period 2001–2008 , we report whether earlier trends continued during 2009–2012 .
Feasibility of Using Modified Adaptive Conjoint Analysis Importance Questions
Background : Prior practical experience in conducting adaptive conjoint analysis ( ACA ) surveys has demonstrated that many subjects have difficulty underst and ing the ‘ importance ’ questions . Objective : To develop a modified version of ACA importance questions . Methods : Modified ACA importance questions composed of two tasks were developed and tested in a pilot study of patients with knee pain . In the first , respondents were presented with the list of attributes and asked to choose which they considered the most important . In the second , they were asked to rate the importance of the remaining attributes relative to the most important one on an 11-point numeric rating scale . Consecutive patients with knee pain , followed at a hospital-based Bone and Joint Clinic , were r and omized to complete the  original or modified version of the ACA survey . The two versions were identical except for the importance questions . The ACA survey included six attributes :  pain , energy , route of administration , stomach upset , bleeding ulcer and cost . Each attribute contained three levels , all of which had a natural order except for route of administration . As this was a pilot study , we present descriptive statistics only . Results : A total of 49 patients were recruited ; 24 completed the original version and 25 completed the modified version . Subjects felt that bar graphs illustrating the relative importance were more accurate for the modified version of ACA . The proportion of subjects for which the most important attribute chosen on a card-sorting task matched that generated by ACA was greater for the modified than for the original version ( 48 % vs 29 % ) . The proportion of subjects for which the treatment option chosen on a card-sorting task matched that predicted by ACA was also greater for the modified than for the original version ( 80 % vs 75 % ) . Subjects used a greater number of points to rate the importance of attributes on the modified version of ACA ( mean±SD = 3.4±0.9 ) than on the original version ( mean±SD = 2.7±1.0 ) . Conclusions : The modified version of the ACA importance questions appears to perform as well as or better than the original version . Use of a simplified set of ACA importance questions is a reasonable alternative for investigators interested in using ACA as a decision-support tool in clinical practice
We found a continuing trend towards conducting DCEs across a broader range of countries .
However , the trend towards including fewer attributes was reversed , whilst the trend towards interview-based DCEs reversed because of increased computer administration .
The trend towards using more flexible econometric models , including mixed logit and latent class , has also continued .
Reporting of monetary values has fallen compared with earlier periods , but the proportion of studies estimating trade-offs between health outcomes and experience factors , or valuing outcomes in terms of utility scores , has increased , although use of odds ratios and probabilities has declined .
The reassuring trend towards the use of more flexible and appropriate DCE design s and econometric methods has been reinforced by the increased use of qualitative methods to inform DCE processes and results .
However , qualitative research methods are being used less often to inform attribute selection , which may make DCEs more susceptible to omitted variable bias if the decision framework is not known prior to the research project .
Background Discrete choice experiments ( DCEs ) are increasingly used in health economics to address a wide range of health policy-related concerns .
Objective Broadly adopting the methodology of an earlier systematic review of health-related DCEs , which covered the period 2001–2008 , we report whether earlier trends continued during 2009–2012 .