Patient Preferences for Barrett's Esophagus and Esophageal Cancer Screening Tests

Patient Preferences for Barrett's Esophagus and Esophageal Cancer Screening Tests: A Discrete Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis

This study plans to learn more about what patients think about screening for esophageal cancer (EAC) and Barrett's esophagus (BE); a pre-cancerous condition associated with esophageal cancer. The plan is to use this information to modify screening practices in the United States with the goal to decrease the number of people who die from esophageal cancer.

To achieve this goal, patient preferences for BE/EAC screening tests will be evaluated through a prospective multicenter discrete choice-based conjoint survey. Patients will choose between a series of hypothetical options and rank their priorities and what they value according to differences in benefit of detection (sensitivity), convenience (time, setting), screening related physical harms (procedural discomfort), and financial harms. By evaluating relative importance of test characteristics and patient prioritization the study will (1) define patient preferences and barriers for attributes of BE/EAC screening modalities to elicit the overall preferred test as well as differences in each attribute that informed that choice and (2) characterize differences in BE/EAC test preferences by patient sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, race, ethnicity) and by the presence or absence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Provision to sign and date the consent form.
• Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and be available for the duration of the study.
• Individual has 3 or more established risk factors for BE (age > 50 years, chronic GERD, male, white race, smoking, obesity, family history of BE/EAC).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to consent.
• Prior diagnosis of BE/EAC.
• Life limiting comorbidity/ disability.
• Active dementia/ cognitive impairment.
• Incarcerated.