An Exploratory Analysis of the “Was It Worth It?” Questionnaire as a Novel Metric to Capture Patient Perceptions of Cancer Treatment

• Published in: Value in health 2022-07, Vol.25 (7), p.1081-1086
• Main Authors: Thanarajasingam, Gita, Basch, Ethan, Mead-Harvey, Carolyn, Bennett, Antonia V., Mazza, Gina L., Schwab, Gisela, Roydhouse, Jessica, Rogak, Lauren J., Dueck, Amylou C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adverse events; Humans; Medical Oncology; Neoplasms - therapy; patient perspective; patient-reported outcomes; Quality of Life; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires; tolerability; toxicity; value
• ISSN: 1098-3015; 1524-4733; 1524-4733
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jval.2021.11.1368

Asking “Was it worth it?” (WIWI) potentially captures the patient perception of a treatment’s benefit weighed against its harms. This exploratory analysis evaluates the WIWI questionnaire as a metric of patients’ perspectives on the worthwhileness of cancer treatment. A 3-item WIWI questionnaire was assessed at end of treatment in patients with cancer on the COMET-2 trial (NCT01522443). WIWI items were evaluated to determine their association with quality of life (QOL), treatment duration, end-of-treatment reason, patient-reported adverse events (AEs), and disease response. A total of 65 patients completed the questionnaire; 40 (62%), 16 (25%), and 9 (14%) patients replied yes, uncertain, and no to “Was it worthwhile for you to receive the cancer treatment given in this study?” (item 1), respectively; 39 (60%), 12 (18%), and 14 (22%) to “If you had to do it over again, would you choose to have this cancer treatment?”; and 40 (62%), 14 (22%), and 11 (17%) to “Would you recommend this cancer treatment to others?” Patients responding yes to item 1 remained on treatment longer than those responding uncertain or no (mean 23.0 vs 11.3 weeks, P