Using Questionnaires to Measure Health Care Costs in Osteoarthritis Patients
Author Information
Author(s): Daniel Pinto, Clare Robertson, Paul Hansen, Haxby Abbott
Primary Institution: Centre for Physiotherapy Research, School of Physiotherapy, University of Otago
Hypothesis
Can a patient-completed questionnaire accurately capture health care use and costs for patients with osteoarthritis compared to administrative databases?
Conclusion
A patient-completed questionnaire is feasible for capturing health care use and costs for patients with osteoarthritis, and data collected using it mostly agree with administrative databases.
Supporting Evidence
- The questionnaire had a response rate of 89%.
- Acceptable sensitivity and specificity levels were found for all types of health care use.
- Total cost estimates from the questionnaire agreed with those from the databases.
- Research costs for the questionnaire-based method were less than one-third of the costs for the databases method.
Takeaway
This study shows that asking patients to fill out a questionnaire about their health care costs works well and is cheaper than using hospital records.
Methodology
A patient questionnaire was designed and applied in a clinical trial, with data also collected from four administrative databases for comparison.
Potential Biases
Potential recall bias may affect the accuracy of self-reported health care use.
Limitations
The study had a small sample size and did not screen participants for mental health issues that could affect their ability to complete the questionnaire.
Participant Demographics
Average age was 70 years, 97% identified as Pakeha/New Zealand European, 58% were female, and 62% had knee osteoarthritis.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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