TY - JOUR
AU - J. Ride
AU - E. Lancsar
AU - I. Ozols
A1 - 
AB - OBJECTIVES: This study examines the role of mental health in consumer healthcare choices, using a discrete choice experiment to analyze choices regarding routine primary care visits in Australia. It captures mental health through 3 variables: self-reported current mental health condition and clinically validated measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 capturing depression, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale capturing anxiety. METHODS: Data were collected during November and December 2021 from a sample (N = 568) representative of the Australian population in age, gender, and location. Participants made hypothetical choices between in-person and telehealth alternatives or a no-visit alternative. Alternatives were described in terms of general practitioner familiarity, out-of-pocket cost, wait time, waiting area size, mask requirements, and modality of telehealth. RESULTS: The results suggest that symptoms of depression and anxiety could affect healthcare choices with opposite direction of effect on uptake and distinct from the presence of a mental health condition. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the need for more careful consideration of the role of mental health in the analysis of discrete choice experiments, particularly in healthcare, including a better understanding of the mechanisms and time-varying nature of any effect.
AD - Health Economics Group, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Health Economics Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: jemimah.ride@monash.edu.; Department of Health Economics Wellbeing and Society, National Center for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.; Mental health@work, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
AN - 40120977
BT - Value Health
C5 - Education & Workforce
CP - 7
DA - Jul
DO - 10.1016/j.jval.2025.03.001
DP - NLM
ET - 20250320
IS - 7
JF - Value Health
LA - eng
N2 - OBJECTIVES: This study examines the role of mental health in consumer healthcare choices, using a discrete choice experiment to analyze choices regarding routine primary care visits in Australia. It captures mental health through 3 variables: self-reported current mental health condition and clinically validated measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 capturing depression, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale capturing anxiety. METHODS: Data were collected during November and December 2021 from a sample (N = 568) representative of the Australian population in age, gender, and location. Participants made hypothetical choices between in-person and telehealth alternatives or a no-visit alternative. Alternatives were described in terms of general practitioner familiarity, out-of-pocket cost, wait time, waiting area size, mask requirements, and modality of telehealth. RESULTS: The results suggest that symptoms of depression and anxiety could affect healthcare choices with opposite direction of effect on uptake and distinct from the presence of a mental health condition. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the need for more careful consideration of the role of mental health in the analysis of discrete choice experiments, particularly in healthcare, including a better understanding of the mechanisms and time-varying nature of any effect.
PY - 2025
SN - 1098-3015
SP - 1100
EP - 1109+
ST - The Role of Mental Health in Healthcare Choices: A Discrete Choice Experiment Examining Preferences for Primary Care
T1 - The Role of Mental Health in Healthcare Choices: A Discrete Choice Experiment Examining Preferences for Primary Care
T2 - Value Health
TI - The Role of Mental Health in Healthcare Choices: A Discrete Choice Experiment Examining Preferences for Primary Care
U1 - Education & Workforce
U3 - 10.1016/j.jval.2025.03.001
VL - 28
VO - 1098-3015
Y1 - 2025
ER -