The broad range of themes identified in the social netnography analysis reflects the complexity that IBD patients face when deciding to start, change, or stop biologics. Navigating these risk-benefit profiles will become even more demanding as additional biologics are approved for clinical use.

While the findings from the social netnography work are qualitative, the insights gained from the analysis set the stage for a deeper investigation into IBD patients’ preferences and values with respect to biologics. A related goal is to quantitatively examine how patients make decisions when faced with selecting among multiple biologic options. This can be accomplished using conjoint analysis – a technique traditionally used in market research – which allows researchers to evaluate how patients make tradeoffs between competing options under conditions of uncertainty. Module 2 will present findings from a study that used conjoint analysis to examine patient decision-making surrounding IBD biologics.