Measuring health utility in varying pregnancy contexts among a diverse cohort of pregnant women

Abstract

Objective:

To contribute to decision analysis by estimating utility, defined as an individual’s valuation of specific health states, for different pregnancy contexts.

Study design:

Cross-sectional analysis of data from pregnant women recruited at pregnancy testing clinics during June 2014–June 2015. Utility was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS), PROMIS GSF-derived utility, standard gamble (SG), and time-trade-off (TTO) approaches. Six dimensions of pregnancy context were assessed including: intention, desirability, planning, timing, wantedness, and happiness. Multivariable regression modeling was used to examine the associations between pregnancy context and utility while controlling for women’s sociodemographic and health characteristics.

Results:

Among 123 participants with diverse characteristics, aged 27±6 years, with mean gestation of 7.5±3 weeks, few reported optimal pregnancy contexts. Mean utility of the pregnancy state varied across contexts, whether measured with VAS (0.28–0.91), PROMIS GSF-derived utility (0.66–0.75), SG (0.985–1.00) or TTO (0.9990–0.99999). The VAS-derived mean utility score for unintended pregnancy was 0.68 (95% CI 0.59, 0.77). Multivariable regression analysis demonstrated significant disutility of unintended pregnancy, as well as all other unfavorable pregnancy contexts, when measured by VAS. In contrast, PROMIS GSF-derived utility only detected a significant reduction in utility among ambivalent compared to wanted pregnancy, while SG and TTO did not show meaningful differences in utility across pregnancy contexts.

Conclusions:

Unintended pregnancy is associated with significant patient-reported disutility, as is pregnancy occurring in other unfavorable contexts. VAS-based measurements provide the most nuanced measures of the utility for pregnancy in varying contexts.

Implications:

Decision analyses, including assessments of the cost-effectiveness of pregnancy related interventions, should incorporate measures of the utility of pregnancy in various contexts.