Public Preferences for Prevention versus Cure: What if an Ounce of Prevention is Worth Only an Ounce of Cure?

Peter A. Ubel, Mark D. Spranca, Michael L. Dekay, John C. Hershey and David A. Asch

Medical Decision Making, 1998, vol. 18, issue 2, 141-148

Abstract: Background. The belief that small preventive efforts bring large benefits may explain why many people say they value prevention above all other types of health care. However, it often takes a great deal of preventive medicine to prevent a bad outcome. This study explores whether people value prevention or cure more when each brings the same magnitude of benefit and examines whether preferences for prevention or cure vary according to the severity of the disability of the patients who can receive the preventive or curative intervention. Methods. 289 prospective jurors were presented with a policy dilemma involving how best to allocate funds to benefit people with varying levels of disability. Each project was said to influence the functional ability of 100 nursing home residents, either by improving their level of function or by preventing their level of function from declining. Results. When given a choice between preventive and curative interventions, more subjects preferred the preventive intervention (37% vs 21%, p = 0.002). However, when the strength of people's preferences was taken into account, the preference for preventive interventions was not statistically significant (p = 0.135). With both preventive and curative interventions, the subjects preferred helping patients with more severe disabilities (p

Keywords: rationing; allocation; person tradeoff; public survey; ethics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:medema:v:18:y:1998:i:2:p:141-148

DOI: 10.1177/0272989X9801800202

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