How Much Money Should be Paid for a Patient to Isolate During the COVID-19 Outbreak? A Discrete Choice Experiment in Iran

INTRODUCTION: Isolation of COVID-19 patients is a vital strategy for preventing the spread of the virus. Isolation without any incentive or compensation for the patients cannot be effective. We sought to find the monetary value of the willingness to accept (WTA) being isolated for COVID-19 in Iran. METHODS: In this discrete choice experiment, scenarios were designed by reviewing the literature and semi-structural interviews. Fourteen choice sets with two scenarios were included in an internet-based questionnaire that was sent to the Telegram Social Network. A total of 617 individuals completed the questionnaire. A random-effects logistic regression model was used for the main analysis. RESULTS: The average monetary value of a WTA 7 days of isolation was US$51.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] 43.09–60.33). The WTA for one day of isolation was US$1.48 (95% CI 1.11–1.85) for unemployed groups, US$1.49 (95% CI 1.18–1.79) for office employees and US$1.36 (95% CI 0.73–2.01) for manual workers. The WTA was 0.44 (95% CI 0.35–0.53) US$ for low-income groups, US$0.68 (95% CI 0.52–0.84) for middle-income groups and US$0.77 (95% CI 0.35–1.18) for high-income groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that financial preferences for being isolated vary widely across individuals within different socioeconomic groups. Policymakers should consider these differences when designing effective intervention to increase compliance with the isolation protocols during infectious disease outbreaks.