Patient Preferences For Conservative Treatment Of Shoulder Pain: A Discrete Choice Experiment

This study explored patient preferences regarding treatment options for shoulder pain in primary care using a discrete choice experiment. A total of 312 adults with shoulder pain participated, making choices between various treatment attributes, including effectiveness, risk of relapse, time to pain reduction, and inclusion of physiotherapy. Latent class analysis identified three distinct groups: Group 1 (68.8%) preferred to opt-out unless presented with highly favorable treatment options (90% effectiveness); Group 2 (9.3%) favored treatment but rejected injections; and Group 3 (21.9%) preferred to opt-out entirely. Previous experience with injections or physiotherapy influenced patients’ preferences for subsequent treatments.