Prescription medicines: Decision-making preferences of patients who receive different levels of public subsidy

Abstract

Objective To compare the relative importance of medicine attributes and decision-making preferences of patients with higher or lower levels of insurance coverage in a publicly funded health care system. Design and setting Cross-sectional telephone survey of randomly selected regular medicine users aged ≥18years in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. Main variables studied Questions about 27 medicine attributes and active involvement in decisions to start a new medicine. Results After adjustment, there were few differences between the 408 concession card holders (high insurance) and 410 general beneficiaries (low insurance) in their assessment of the importance of medicine attributes. For both..