How great is willingness to pay for recovery from sequelae after severe traumatic brain injury in Japan?

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the burden on families with a family member suffering traumatic brain injury sequelae in Japan. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. METHODS Family members' burden from the sequelae of traumatic brain injury was estimated by use of willingness-to-pay models and the contingent valuation method. A national survey among 1707 members of the Japan Traumatic Brain Injury Association was conducted by postal questionnaire with open-ended questions. A total of 509 (29.8%) of the family members responded (405 men and 104 women). Mean age of patients with traumatic brain injury was 33.4 (SD 14.3) years and of responding family members 53.3 (SD 14.5) years. RESULTS Willingness-to-pay for the family member's recovery from sequelae of traumatic brain injury (8,694,502 Japanese yen; 79,134 US dollars/year) was similar to that reported for a family member's survival from incurable terminal disease (8,342,953 Japanese yen; 75,934 US dollars/year). CONCLUSION The data indicate that family members perceive the burden of a family member with traumatic brain injury sequelae as similar to what would have been caused by an incurable terminal disease.