• Sayako Akiyama, Amir Goren, Enrique Basurto, Tetsushi Komori, and Tasuku Harada.
• Market Access, Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sayako.akiyama@bayer.com.
• Patient Prefer Adher. 2018 Jan 1; 12: 162716401627-1640.

PurposeTo examine patient preferences for oral and intrauterine system treatments for dysmenorrhea in Japan.Patients And MethodsA discrete choice experiment was conducted to assess the willingness to accept trade-offs among hypothetical treatment profiles. An internet-based survey was administered to women 18-49 years of age who self-reported a dysmenorrhea diagnosis or experienced dysmenorrhea at least once in the past 6 months (N=309). Choice questions included pairs of treatments presented with different attributes: mode of administration, reduction in bleeding after 6 months, chance of symptoms becoming "improved", nausea, weight gain, irregular bleeding, and risk of venous thromboembolism. Relative importance (RI) estimates were computed.ResultsThe mean respondent age was 35.8 years (standard deviation =7.0), and 85 women (27.5%) reported that they had previously used hormonal therapy for dysmenorrhea. Treatment preference was most strongly associated with mode of administration (RI=49.8%), followed by chance of irregular bleeding (RI=17.3%). In contrast, treatment preference was most weakly associated with chance of weight gain (RI=2.4%) and reduction in bleeding after 6 months (RI=0.8%). Respondents preferred oral treatments: for twice-daily regimen, odds ratio (OR)=4.90; for once-daily fixed cyclic regimen, OR=4.20; and for once-daily flexible extended regimen, OR=2.44; whereas for intrauterine system, OR=0.02 (p<0.001 for all). Those with prior hormonal therapy experience exhibited the same pattern.ConclusionMode of administration factored heavily in dysmenorrhea treatment preferences. Women of reproductive age preferred oral medication, especially twice-daily regimen and once-daily fixed cyclic regimen. Findings can potentially help to improve physician-patient communication and treatment decision making. Physicians should consider factors that can influence patient preference to optimize treatment acceptance and adherence.

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