PhD defence C.L. (Chiara) Whichello

Patient preferences are critical for the successful development, regulation, and reimbursement of medical products and creating patient centric decision-making within the medical product lifecycle (MPLC). This thesis identified multiple systemic challenges preventing the systematic integration of patient preference studies into the MPLC. Greater methodological clarity is needed by key stakeholders before the information can be successfully incorporated into decision-making. Patient preferences can be measured through a variety of different preference elicitation and exploration methods and decision-makers are eager to discover which methods would be the most acceptable for market authorisation submissions or HTA/payer reimbursement decisions. This thesis appraised several methods and conducted a head-to-head empirical study. There is no ‘gold-standard’ patient preference elicitation or exploration method, but some methods have more promising features, and are more likely to meet decision-makers needs across the MPLC, such as the discrete-choice experiment (DCE). The development of methodologically sound patient preference studies is an important field of scientific research that will benefit the lives of patients.

Due to corona, the PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall of the Professor Andries Querido Room. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.