6 PhD’s furthering knowledge on patient preferences
Thanks to the efforts of six PhD students, we have been able to contribute to the science of patient preference studies beyond the scope of PREFER. In addition to their tasks in the project, they have explored PREFER research questions and methodology in their own patient preference studies, contributing valuable results to both PREFER and the preference research community. Ranging from patient preferences for gene therapy, biologics, new cancer treatments, and glucose monitoring, to how simulations can support our understanding of preferences and whether educational materials and framing of the attributes in a study will have an impact on results.
So far, three PhD projects have been completed. Chiara Whichello from the Erasmus University Rotterdam critically examined how patient preference studies are performed, and how this can affect their systematic integration into the medical product lifecycle. Her study focused on preferences and trade-offs of diabetes patients when selecting a device for monitoring their glucose. Eline van Overbeeke from KU Leuven looked at ways where patient preference studies could help bridge the gap between new treatments and well-established decision-making structures, focusing on gene therapies for haemophilia patients. Karin Schölin Bywall from Uppsala University explored how rheumatoid arthritis patients' preferences for different treatment options can provide added value in regulatory decision-making in the drug development process.
We are looking forward to Rosanne Janssens defending her thesis at KU Leuven in the autumn. Her thesis will identify multi-stakeholder challenges and solutions for designing, conducting, and using patient preference studies for informing drug development, regulatory, and HTA decisions. Her study is exploring the preferences of cancer patients with Multiple Myeloma. We are also expecting to learn more about how simulations of patient preference studies can support PREFER outcomes from Vikas Soekhai's PhD project at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. And about how factors like educational materials, framing of attributes, and psychosocial constructs can be used to better understand and conduct patient preference studies from Ian Smith's PhD project at UMC Utrecht.
Want to know more about PhD projects in PREFER? Check out our PhD thesis page! Or have a look at our case study pages to find out more about how we put patient preferences to practice.