Estimation of Willingness to Pay For Mammographic Breast Cancer Screening Tests among Women in Tehran, Based On Contingent Valuation Method: 2010

Introduction: Routine mammography screening and clinical breast examination are effective measures in reducing breast cancer mortality. Contingent valuation method (CVM) is a method for willingness to pay (WTP ) estimation f or cost benefit analysis in economics. In this study, the mean and the function of WTP for mammographic screening for breast cancer were estimated with CVM. Method: This cross-sectional study was descriptive-analytic in nature. A questionnaire was used to collect data from/ for the households in Tehran selected by stratified sampling in 2010. The correlation between WTP questions and the annual household income was measured for internal validity. There were other questions selected from National Health Accounts questionnaire, a standard questionnaire. The data were analyzed by STATA software (version 11) using Ramsey RESET test, David Sen - Mackinnon test, likelihood ratio test and maximum likelihood method to estimate the bivariate probit model and the marginal effects of variables with Z-ratios. Results: The answer to the first bid was “yes” for some 46% of respondents while about 20% of respondents said “yes” to the upper amount. The probability of positive response for both bids was 0.159 and the average WTP was 300,000 Rails. Women, experiencing mammography in the last 4 years, answered “yes” to both bids with probability of 0.14. Discussion: If the cost of mammogram were less than 300 thousand Rails for each person, there would be a higher WTP for screening mammography suggesting that individuals, in higher socioeconomic class, have higher WTP for mammographic screening.