Patients' preferences for future HIV services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Quantifying preferences for service delivery among people living with HIV: A Discrete Choice Experiment
IRAS ID
161909
Contact name
Martin Fisher
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
14/NE/1193, REC reference number
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 29 days
Research summary
The aims of the study are to explore patients’ preferences for different models of HIV care, and to assess whether preferences differ depending on service user characteristics, including age, gender, ethnic group, sexual preference,length of HIV diagnosis and experience of non-HIV related illness. This cross-sectional, questionnaire based study will use a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) methodology (described in A13) to examine patient’s preferences for the care of non-HIV conditions (e.g. headache, fever, rash, diarrhoea or abdominal pain). The team have successfully used this methodology before, to examine patients’ preferences for the delivery of sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing services (REC Reference 08/H1111/86). In a series of questions, participants will be asked to choose between two service options: an HIV clinic or a general practitioner (GP). Each question will vary in terms of the attributes of each service, such as opening hours, the expertise of the doctor/healthcare professional, and access to medical information, in order to determine which aspects of care are most important to patients. Recruitment (target n=1,000) will take place over a six month period from HIV clinics across the Kent, Surrey and Sussex clinical research network (KSS-CRN) and London. The questionnaire has been developed and has been piloted with 30 HIV positive people recruited through community organisations, to ensure patient acceptability and understanding. The findings will be used to inform the development of services to better meet the needs of an ageing population of people with HIV. The study is funded by a NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Grant, and managed by a multidisciplinary Steering Group.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NE/1193
Date of REC Opinion
28 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion