Assessment of women’s treatment preferences for vasomotor symptoms due to menopause

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Several therapies for vasomotor symptoms (VMS) due to menopause are available. Treatment preferences and willingness-to-pay for VMS treatment among US women with VMS were evaluated. Methods An online survey of women with perimenopausal or postmenopausal VMS was conducted (3/15/21–4/23/21). A discrete choice experiment quantified the impact of 7 treatment attributes on VMS treatment choice: VMS frequency/severity reduction, sleep improvement, risk of breast cancer/cardiovascular events in 6 years, risk of short-term side effects, and out-of-pocket costs. Preference weights (PWs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated and reported. Results Among 467 women, 86.5% and 87.8% reported moderate to very severe VMS and sleep problems during the preceding month, respectively. Sleep improvement (PW: 0.843; 95% CI: 0.721, 0.965) and reduction in VMS frequency (PW: 0.658; 95% CI: 0.520, 0.796) and severity (PW: 0.628; 95% CI: 0.500, 0.756) most influenced treatment preference; risk of cardiovascular events (PW: 0.150; 95% CI: 0.069, 0.232) or breast cancer (PW: 0.401; 95% CI: 0.306, 0.496) in 6 years had lesser effect. Willingness-to-pay was an additional $35–$46/month for substantially improved sleep, 80% VMS frequency reduction, and reduction from severe to mild VMS. Conclusions Sleep improvement and reductions in VMS frequency/severity were the most important treatment attributes.