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. 2013 Aug 21;8(8):e72172. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072172

Table 5. Disease criteria and standardized part-worth utility values for disease criteria levels by country.

Disease criteria1 and corresponding levels Canada US t 5
MUV(β)2 LCL 3 UCL 4 MUV(β)2 LCL 3 UCL 4
Incidence of the disease in the Canadian/US human population in the last five years
0 cases −84.29 −85.75 −82.84 −88.49 −90.22 −86.77 3.65*** ∧
5 cases −39.26 −40.79 −37.72 −37.28 −38.36 −36.21 2.07* ∧
100 cases 27.40 26.42 28.38 24.96 24.06 25.85 3.61***
10,000 cases 96.15 94.12 98.18 100.82 98.92 102.71 3.29**
Case-fatality in humans
No deaths or deaths are rarely reported −75.39 −76.68 −74.10 −80.16 −81.56 −78.77 4.92*** ∧
Case-fatality is low (6%) −43.64 −45.02 −42.26 −43.15 −44.51 −41.80 0.49
Case-fatality is moderate (35%) 26.78 25.72 27.84 33.50 32.21 34.79 7.89*** ∧
Case-fatality is high (80%) 92.25 90.86 93.63 89.81 87.87 91.75 2.00* ∧
Severity of illness in humans
No clinical symptoms or illness that is not noticeable −71.85 −73.53 −70.17 −69.07 −70.12 −68.02 2.75** ∧
Mild clinical symptoms (time off work, some medical assistanceand personal care at home) −29.02 −30.26 −27.77 −21.36 −22.41 −20.30 9.23*** ∧
Moderate clinical symptoms (urgent medical care and hospital admission) 25.35 24.31 26.40 23.96 23.17 24.76 2.07* ∧
Severe clinical symptoms (failure of major organ system/s necessitatinglong-term hospital admission) 75.51 73.56 77.47 66.46 65.27 67.65 7.76*** ∧
Disease trend in Canada/US in the last five years in humans
Decline over the last five years −74.57 −76.18 −72.95 −71.46 −72.58 −70.33 3.10** ∧
Stable over the last five years −29.32 −30.73 −27.90 −28.76 −29.79 −27.73 0.63∧
Increase over the last five years 34.32 32.75 35.88 26.22 25.19 27.24 8.48*** ∧
New emerging disease, rapid increase over the last five years 69.57 68.25 70.88 74.00 72.78 75.21 4.87***
Incidence of the disease in the Canadian/US animal population in the last five years
0 cases −61.74 −62.85 −60.63 −64.46 −65.65 −63.27 3.27** ∧
5 cases −29.20 −30.20 −28.20 −31.43 −32.69 −30.18 2.72** ∧
100 cases 17.36 16.50 18.22 16.90 15.98 17.81 0.73∧
10,000 cases 73.58 72.25 74.91 79.00 77.28 80.71 4.89*** ∧
Economic burden in humans
No cost to the health care system and individuals −61.33 −62.83 −59.82 −58.33 −59.91 −56.75 2.70** ∧
Low cost ($100 per sick individual) −19.17 −20.37 −17.97 −22.53 −23.55 −21.51 4.18*** ∧
Moderate cost ($1,000 per sick individual) 16.08 14.96 17.19 19.97 19.03 20.91 5.24*** ∧
High cost ($10,000 per sick individual) 64.42 62.82 66.02 60.89 59.23 62.54 3.01** ∧
Duration of illness in humans
No illness observed or only a few days of illness −49.67 −51.16 −48.17 −50.87 −52.43 −49.31 1.09∧
Short-term illness (weeks) −23.54 −24.83 −22.25 −14.86 −15.88 −13.85 10.36*** ∧
Medium−term illness (months) 11.37 10.07 12.68 10.36 9.54 11.18 1.29∧
Chronic illness (years) or illness with permanent deficits 61.83 60.42 63.23 55.37 53.64 57.10 5.68*** ∧
Disease trend in Canada/US in the last five years in animals
Decline over the last five years −57.17 −58.41 −55.92 −58.34 −59.75 −56.93 1.22∧
Stable over the last five years −24.70 −25.79 −23.62 −25.27 −26.26 −24.28 0.76
Increase over the last five years 27.70 26.58 28.81 24.47 23.55 25.38 4.38*** ∧
New emerging disease, rapid increase over the last five years 54.17 52.70 55.64 59.14 57.80 60.48 4.91***
Transmission potential from animals to humans
No transmission from animals to humans −51.13 −52.41 −49.84 −55.81 −57.11 −54.51 5.01***
Low transmission from animals to humans −30.90 −31.91 −29.88 -26.35 −27.41 −25.30 6.08*** ∧
Moderate transmission from animals to humans 22.35 21.38 23.31 24.46 23.54 25.38 3.10**
High 59.68 58.42 60.93 57.71 56.55 58.87 2.26*
Case-fatality in animals
No deaths or deaths are rarely reported −47.01 −48.25 −45.78 −43.05 −44.07 −42.04 4.86*** ∧
Case-fatality is low (6%) −32.72 −33.77 −31.67 −31.44 −32.52 −30.37 1.66
Case-fatality is moderate (35%) 20.45 19.16 21.74 17.90 16.75 19.05 2.89** ∧
Case-fatality is high (80%) 59.29 57.82 60.75 56.60 54.96 58.23 2.40* ∧
Economic and social burden on trade in animals
No cost to trade in animals −39.39 −40.44 −38.34 −40.98 −42.42 −39.53 1.74∧
Low cost to trade in animals (vaccination of herds) −31.14 −32.40 −29.88 −29.35 −30.62 −28.08 1.95
Moderate cost to trade in animals (restriction of movement and trade) 12.11 11.13 13.09 8.38 7.40 9.37 5.25***
High cost to trade in animals (culling of herds or destroying infected crops/produce) 58.42 56.99 59.84 61.94 60.34 63.55 3.22** ∧
Transmission potential between humans
No transmission between humans −41.55 −42.71 −40.40 −43.37 −44.75 −41.99 1.97* ∧
Low transmission between humans −27.46 −28.54 −26.38 −25.59 −26.71 −24.47 2.36* ∧
Moderate transmission between humans 18.12 17.02 19.21 17.42 16.37 18.48 0.89
High transmission between humans 50.90 49.96 51.83 51.54 50.41 52.66 0.86∧
Transmission potential between animals
No transmission between animals −29.36 −30.43 −28.30 −32.72 −33.73 −31.71 4.50***
Low transmission between animals −21.22 −22.22 −20.22 −15.98 −16.75 −15.20 8.10*** ∧
Moderate transmission between animals 13.24 12.37 14.11 11.46 10.49 12.43 2.67** ∧
High transmission between animals 37.35 36.48 38.21 37.23 36.37 38.09 0.18
Efficacy of control measures in humans
Highly effective in reducing disease burden 8.92 5.90 11.93 1.68 −1.56 4.91 3.21** ∧
Moderately effective in reducing disease burden 8.69 7.38 10.01 10.40 9.33 11.47 1.97* ∧
Minimally effective in reducing disease burden −8.66 −10.49 −6.83 −1.76 −3.42 −0.10 5.48***
Not effective at all in reducing disease burden −8.95 −11.49 −6.41 −10.32 −12.78 −7.86 0.76
Transmission potential from humans to animals
No transmission from humans to animals −30.91 −32.23 −29.59 −27.71 −28.85 −26.57 3.59*** ∧
Low transmission from humans to animals −17.02 −18.08 −15.97 −17.78 −18.94 −16.63 0.95∧
Moderate transmission from humans to animals 15.71 14.68 16.75 14.47 13.35 15.59 1.60∧
High transmission from humans to animals 32.22 31.36 33.08 31.02 29.93 32.12 1.68∧
Efficacy of control measures in animals
Highly effective in reducing disease burden 19.40 17.02 21.78 20.90 18.49 23.31 0.86
Moderately effective in reducing disease burden 12.96 11.42 14.49 10.04 8.35 11.73 2.50** ∧
Minimally effective in reducing disease burden −15.21 −17.03 −13.39 −11.28 −12.97 −9.59 3.11**
Not effective at all in reducing disease burden −17.15 −19.28 −15.02 −19.67 −22.12 −17.21 1.52∧
Severity of illness in animals
No apparent clinical signs or the animal-source of infection is non-living (e.g. food-source) −23.16 −23.96 −22.35 −26.28 −27.36 −25.21 4.58*** ∧
Mild clinical signs (minor distress such as fever, lethargy, shivering, constipation, loose feces) −16.48 −17.51 −15.45 −13.28 −14.23 −12.34 4.49***
Moderate clinical signs (moderate distress such as difficult breathing, bleeding from openings, aborted fetuses) 8.70 7.71 9.70 12.19 11.07 13.31 4.57*** ∧
Severe clinical signs (severe distress such as convulsion, organ failure, neurological involvement) 30.94 29.69 32.18 27.38 26.45 28.30 4.49*** ∧
Duration of illness in animals
No illness observed or only a few days of illness −18.01 −19.39 −16.63 −20.65 −21.78 −19.52 2.91** ∧
Short-term illness (weeks) −11.57 −12.89 −10.25 −8.07 −8.91 −7.23 4.38*** ∧
Medium-term illness (months) 3.03 1.94 4.13 3.29 2.38 4.20 0.35∧
Chronic illness (years) or illness with permanent deficits 26.54 25.46 27.62 25.44 24.45 26.43 1.48
How much is known scientifically about the disease
Knowledge of the disease is well known and scientifically valid 0.63 −2.17 3.42 −12.47 −14.81 −10.13 7.05*** ∧
Knowledge of the disease exists but the validity of the information is uncertain 2.78 1.88 3.68 7.74 7.03 8.46 8.44*** ∧
Knowledge of the disease is currently insufficient 3.14 1.90 4.38 7.82 6.63 9.01 5.33***
There is no scientific knowledge of the disease −6.55 −8.20 −4.90 −3.09 −4.47 −1.72 3.16**
High risk groups in humans
No −18.95 −19.82 −18.09 −17.46 −18.39 −16.52 2.30* ∧
Unknown −3.10 −3.92 −2.27 −2.23 −3.12 −1.35 1.40∧
Yes 22.05 21.11 23.00 19.69 18.88 20.51 3.71*** ∧
High risk groups in animals
No −9.53 −10.39 −8.67 −9.76 −10.49 −9.03 0.40∧
Unknown −2.92 −3.80 −2.04 −0.88 −1.53 −0.23 3.66*** ∧
Yes 12.45 11.59 13.31 10.64 9.80 11.49 2.94**
1

Presented in order of importance to Canadians. 2Mean part-worth utility values (β) across respondents. 395% lower confidence interval (LCL) of mean part-worth utility values (β) across respondents. 495% Upper confidence interval (LCL) of mean part-worth utility values (β) across respondents 5 t-statistic; d.f. = 1,469.

*

p<0.05,

**

p<0.01,

***

p<0.001.

∧

Adjusted for unequal variance (identified by the F-test of equality of variances) using the Welch t-test; Satterthwaite’s d.f. = 1,176.87 to 1469.