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Public’s Willingness to Pay Towards a Medical Device for Detecting Foot Ulceration in People with Diabetes

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Abstract

Objectives

Diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) is a common and serious complication among diabetic patients. A medical device has been developed to prevent the occurrence of DFU. The aim of this study was to investigate the willingness to pay (WTP) for this device among the general public in the UK.

Methods

A contingent valuation survey was administered to 1051 participants through an online survey including questions on socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported health, knowledge of diabetes and medical devices, and WTP. A two-part model was used to analyse determinants of WTP, including a logistic model in the first part and a generalised linear model with a log-transformed WTP in the second part.

Results

More than half (55.9%) of the participants expressed a positive WTP. The annual mean (standard deviation) and median (interquartile range) WTP values were £76.9 (69.1) and £50 (80), respectively. Older age, middle-level education, good/excellent self-reported health, visiting doctors once/2–5 times, diabetes experience, medical device experience and more than average self-perceived likelihood of using similar devices were associated with a higher likelihood of willingness to pay. Younger age, male gender and higher household income were associated with higher WTP values.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that people are willing to pay for this device and they tend to contribute when they have experience of diabetes or similar devices and perceive self-benefit.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Health Economics, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK

    Fan Yang

  2. Centre for Business and Economics of Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Brenda Gannon

  3. School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Andrew Weightman

Authors
  1. Fan Yang
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  2. Brenda Gannon
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  3. Andrew Weightman
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Contributions

FY designed the questionnaire, led the data analysis and interpretation, and was primarily responsible for drafting the manuscript. BG and AW supported data interpretation and commented on and amended the draft manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fan Yang.

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Funding

This study was funded by the University of Manchester Research Institute. The funding body had no role in the design, execution, analysis and interpretation of the data, or writing of the study.

Conflict of interest

Fan Yang, Brenda Gannon and Andrew Weightman have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Yang, F., Gannon, B. & Weightman, A. Public’s Willingness to Pay Towards a Medical Device for Detecting Foot Ulceration in People with Diabetes. Appl Health Econ Health Policy 16, 559–567 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-018-0400-z

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