Measuring risk preferences in the health domain
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Measuring risk preferences in the health domain
IRAS ID
202510
Contact name
Thomas Rouyard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Diabetes self-management, which includes self-care behaviours such as healthy eating and physical exercise, has become the cornerstone for treating T2DM. However, although self-management education (SME) is necessary to equip patients with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to manage their diabetes care, the most effective method to do so is still unclear.
In order to develop effective SME interventions, it is necessary to consider the whole decision-making process that leads an individual to adopt or not a given self-care behaviour. Risk preferences – which are the natural tendency of an individual to take or avoid risks - are known to play a key role in the decision-making process, especially under conditions of uncertainty. Quite surprisingly, risk preferences have, to our knowledge, never been measured in the health domain with a patient population.
In order to design future SME interventions especially tailored for people with type 2 diabetes, it is urgent to better understand their risk preferences in the health domain. Data collected will allow future development of targeted, more effective interventions. This means:
- Increasing the awareness of risks for complications associated with type 2 diabetes.
- Encouraging the adoption of recommended self-care behaviours.A questionnaire specifically designed to elicit participants' risk preferences has been developed in collaboration with both health professionals and patients (using the online tool SurveyMonkey). The questionnaire will last 20 minutes on average, including reading the instructions and answering the questions. The recruitment site will be 27 Beaumont St practice, Oxford.
The research is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Oxford at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NE/0203
Date of REC Opinion
15 Jun 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion