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Abstract Willingness to pay (WTP) is often used as a marker for burden of disease and health-related quality of life. To date, there are no other large UK studies available investigating WTP for a cure (WTP-cure) of patients with acne in secondary care. This study aims to review whether there are differences in acne WTP-cure across different groups in terms of income, age, gender and severity of disease, in patients presenting to secondary care. This was a single-centre, descriptive study of retrospective data collected from patients with acne referred to a National Health Service dermatology department (n = 1593). Consenting patients provided demographic data and completed a questionnaire quantifying WTP-cure for acne, as well as assessment of monthly income. Acne severity was assessed according to site using the Leeds revised acne grading system (O’Brien S, Lewis J, Cunliffe W. The Leeds revised acne grading system. J Dermatolog Treat 1998; 9: 215–20). Data were analysed using SPSS (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA. Anova and t-tests were used to calculate P-values (critical level 0.05). Lower-income groups demonstrated higher WTP-cure than higher-income groups (up to 128.2 times the monthly post-tax income in the lowest-income group of £10–20 per month, vs. up to 1.2 times in highest-income group of £3500 per month; P 0.05). People in younger age groups had higher frequencies of more severe acne at all sites, and lower incomes (P 0.05). Controlling for income, patients in younger age groups had higher WTP-cure scores than those in the older age groups: 23.2 times the monthly post-tax income in the youngest age group of 10–13 years, vs. 1.7 times in the oldest group of ≥ 31 years. There was no correlation between WTP-cure and acne severity on the face or chest, but more severe acne on the back correlated with lower WTP-cure (P = 0.01). There was no significant difference in WTP between male and female patients P(T ≤ t) two tail = 0.34. There were significant differences in WTP-cure scores for acne across age groups, income groups and acne severities. There were no differences found for gender, or face or chest severity. It would be of benefit for further research studies to assess psychometric scores against WTP-cure.
Latt et al. (Fri,) studied this question.