The Utility of Health and Wealth for HIV Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Kenya

Abstract

Aims/ Objectives: To determine the appropriate utility function that models the trade o between health and wealth for HIV/AIDS patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Kenya.
 Study Design: Retrospective study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, between January 2019-April 2022.
 Methodology: The study involved a retrospective study of 2800 patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Kenya from the period of 2005-2017. All the records are in terms of random patient id and in no way is the privacy and anonymity of patients is compromised. The inclusion criteria is patients who had complete information on the covariates used in the model over the follow up period. The logarithmic utility function, the negative exponential utility function and the power utility function are compared using the Akaike Information Criterion to determine which one best fits the empirical data to model the health and wealth trade off of patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Kenya.
 Results: Women constituted 66% of the sample. Only patients over the age of 18 years were included in the study. The mean age was 40.3. The health related quality of life values were calculated for each patient on Antiretroviral Therapy using the proxy utility function approach. The costs associated with receiving Antiretroviral Therapy treatment were obtained from simulating from a gamma distribution with ranges from existing published literature. The logarithmic utility function had the least AKaike Information Criterion.
 Conclusion: The marginal utility of health increases with wealth for People living with HIV and the logarithmic utility function is suitable for modelling the shape of preferences for the trade off between health and wealth for HIV patients on Antiretroviral Therapy.