BACKGROUND: thickened fluids are commonly advised to minimise the risk of aspiration in @entity1 with @entity1282 , although many do not comply with this treatment. In health economics, utilities are values that reflect an individual's preferences for different health states. We examined the healthcare utilities, elicited using a time trade-off approach (TTO), from healthcare professionals and @entity3257 @entity1 , associated with long-term use of thickened fluids. METHODS: the risk of aspiration with thin fluids was explained to consecutive hospital @entity1 without @entity1282 (n = 76) and to a convenience sample of healthcare professionals (n = 75) who were then randomly allocated to drink as much as possible of 200 ml of pre-prepared water of Grade 1 (very mildly thick) or Grade 2 (mildly thick) consistency. A standardised script with a ping-pong approach was then used to elicit TTO utilities for use of thickened fluids using a 10-year horizon. RESULTS: median (inter-quartile range) utilities were 0.7 (0.5-0.9) for those receiving Grade 1 and 0.5 (0.3-0.7) for those receiving Grade 2 consistency fluid (Mann-Whitney test, P = 0.001). Thus, for example, on average those allocated to Grade 2 fluid would be willing to sacrifice 5 years of a 10-year lifespan not to be restricted to fluid of that consistency. There were no significant differences between @entity1 and professional values. CONCLUSION: @entity1 and professionals judge that long-term use of thickened fluids would significantly impair quality of life. Utilities associated with more viscous fluids are particularly low.

A randomised trial of the effect of different fluid consistencies used in the management of XXXX on quality of life: a time trade-off study.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient', 'people'] @entity3257 :: ('MESH:C580335', 'Disease') :: ['non-dysphagic'] @entity1282 :: ('MESH:D003680', 'Disease') :: ['dysphagia']
@entity1282 :: (MESH:D003680,Disease) :: ['dysphagia']
