Kaga Satoshi, Suzuki Teppei, Ogasawara Katsuhiko
Graduate School of Health Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Interact J Med Res. 2017 Oct 24;6(2):e21. doi: 10.2196/ijmr.7461.
In Japan over the past few years, more attention has been focused on unnoticed solitary death in the context of an aging society and the trend toward nuclear family. A number of institutions and companies have implemented a prevention measure with digital terrestrial broadcasting telecare services for the elderly: Hokkaido University; TV-Asahi Corporation; Hitachi, Ltd; Iwamizawa City; Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co, Ltd; and Hamanasu Information Co, Ltd. Although this system is provided free of charge as a demonstration test, determining the appropriate price for the service is required for its sustainable operation.
The aim of this study was to quantify individual willingness to pay (WTP) so as to test the tenability of digital terrestrial broadcasting service for elderly telecare.
We used the contingent valuation method (CVM) to estimate the WTP for this service among 305 citizens (valid response rate 76.0%) living in Japan. A questionnaire survey was conducted for people aged 18 to 100 years according to Japanese age distribution from September 2016. To elicit WTP, we adopted a double-bound dichotomous choice method to ask the respondents whether they agree or disagree with the price we offered.
The median WTP for this service's monthly fee is estimated to be 431 JPY (approximately US $3.7). The finding suggests that gender (0.66, P=.01), health consciousness (1.08, P=.01), willingness to use (2.38, P<.001), and seeing others less than once a week (1.00, P=.06) made a positive effect on WTP.
We conclude that reliable WTP was elicited by CVM based on an Internet survey. Calculated median WTP for digital terrestrial broadcasting service for elderly telecare was 431 JPY (approximately US $3.7). In the analysis of factors that affect WTP, constant factors, log-bid, health consciousness, gender, see others less than one time for week, and willingness to use made positive effect to probability of acceptance. In comparison of WTP in different groups, age groups showed that WTP of the elderly group was higher than WTP of the middle age group and younger age group. However, WTP surveys need to be carefully conducted to minimize the sampling bias and allocate accurate structure of gender distribution.
在过去几年的日本，老龄化社会以及家庭小型化趋势使得人们更加关注未被注意到的孤独死亡现象。许多机构和公司已针对老年人实施了一项基于地面数字广播远程护理服务的预防措施，这些机构包括北海道大学、朝日电视台、日立公司、岩见泽市、北海道电视台广播有限公司以及滨奈信息有限公司。尽管该系统作为示范测试是免费提供的，但为了其可持续运营，需要确定该服务的合适价格。
本研究旨在量化个人支付意愿（WTP），以检验地面数字广播服务用于老年远程护理的合理性。
我们使用条件价值评估法（CVM）来估计日本305名公民（有效回复率76.0%）对该服务的支付意愿。根据日本的年龄分布，于2016年9月对18至100岁的人群进行了问卷调查。为了引出支付意愿，我们采用双边界二分选择法询问受访者是否同意我们提供的价格。
该服务月费用的支付意愿中位数估计为431日元（约合3.7美元）。研究结果表明，性别（0.66，P = 0.01）、健康意识（1.08，P = 0.01）、使用意愿（2.38，P < 0.001）以及每周看望他人次数少于一次（1.00，P = 0.06）对支付意愿有积极影响。
我们得出结论，基于网络调查的条件价值评估法得出了可靠的支付意愿。老年远程护理地面数字广播服务的计算支付意愿中位数为431日元（约合3.7美元）。在影响支付意愿的因素分析中，常数因素、对数出价、健康意识、性别、每周看望他人次数少于一次以及使用意愿对接受概率有积极影响。在不同组别的支付意愿比较中，年龄组显示老年组的支付意愿高于中年组和青年组。然而，需要谨慎进行支付意愿调查，以尽量减少抽样偏差并分配准确的性别分布结构。
