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Naoya Emoto,1– 3 Mikiko Okazaki-Hada,1 Yuji Yamaguchi,1 Fumitaka Okajima,1,2 Rei Goto,4 Hitoshi Sugihara1 1Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, Chiba, Japan; 3Diabetes & Thyroid Clinic, Sakura Chuo Hospital, Chiba, Japan; 4Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Tokyo, JapanCorrespondence: Naoya EmotoDiabetes & Thyroid Clinic, Sakura Chuo Hospital, 20-4, Sakaecho, Sakura City, Chiba, 285-0014, JapanTel +81-43-486-1311Fax +81-43-486-1314Email emotonaoya1954@gmail.comPurpose: Patients with thyrotoxicosis show neuropsychological changes, and these may damage the quality of informed consent in clinical practice. Therefore, we examined patients’ real-life preferences to assess whether change in risk preferences was dependent on thyroid function state.Patients and Methods: The participants were 86 patients who were newly diagnosed with Graves’ thyrotoxicosis between 1 January and 31 December 2018 (group A), and an additional 33 euthyroid patients diagnosed before 2018 (group B). In a survey conducted via a questionnaire based on the concept of behavioral economics, we sought to determine risk preferences, rationality of choices, and other relevant factors. An identical second survey was completed 6– 12 months later by 36 patients in group A after their thyroid functions had been normalized by treatment, and by 11 euthyroid patients in group B. We performed paired analysis of the first and second surveys in 32 patients of group A and single regression analysis of a total of 140 surveys obtained from 119 patients by combining the first and second surveys of groups A and B with serum level of FT3 as an independent variable.Results: The paired analysis indicated that there was no significant difference in any survey item. The single regression analysis revealed that willingness-to-pay (WTP) for preventive medicine and monthly average out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure on medical care were both significantly positively associated with serum level of FT3. Patients in the hyperthyroid state tend to have high WTP for preventive medicine, which may be accelerated by the anchoring effect of OOP expenditure.Conclusion: Almost all risk preferences of patients with Graves’ disease are constant, rational, and reproducible in the hyperthyroid and euthyroid states. However, medical professionals should be aware that the willingness of patients with thyrotoxicosis to pay for medical costs may change after the normalization of thyroid function.Keywords: informed consent, behavioral economics, out-of-pocket expenditure, anchoring effects

Naoya Emoto,1,2 Akimi Soga,1 Izumi Fukuda,1 Kyoko Tanimura-Inagaki,1 Taro Harada,1 Hajime M Koyano,3 Rei Goto,4 Hitoshi Sugihara1 1Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan; 2Diabetes & Thyroid Clinic, Sakura Chuo Hospital, Chiba, Japan; 3Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Juntendo University Urayasu Hospital, Chiba, Japan; 4Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Kanagawa, JapanCorrespondence: Naoya EmotoDiabetes & Thyroid Clinic, Sakura Chuo Hospital, 20-4, Sakaecho, Sakura City, Chiba 285-0014, JapanTel +81-43-486-1311Fax +81-43-486-1314Email emotonaoya1954@gmail.comPurpose: The risk preferences of patients with diabetes have profound effects on the progression of complications. The present study aimed to clarify whether the preferences of patients with diabetes and retinopathy are deliberately risk-seeking or irrational and whether this propensity is specific to those with retinopathy or is also found in patients without retinopathy compared with those without diabetes.Patients and Methods: A total of 394 patients with diabetes (264 without retinopathy and 130 with retinopathy) and 198 patients without diabetes agreed to participate in this survey. The questions were modified versions of those from the Japan Household Survey on Consumer Preferences and Satisfaction, which sought to determine the participants’ personal socioeconomic status and risk preferences. In the questionnaires, responses were analyzed by determining the participants’ willingness to pay for a lottery ticket and for an insurance policy. Irrational responses were defined as violations of two axioms of the Expected Utility Theory: completeness and transitivity.Results: The incidence of irrational responses increased with age and was associated with educational level. The incidence of irrational responses was significantly higher in patients with retinopathy than in those without retinopathy after adjusting for age and educational level. There was no significant difference in the incidence of irrational responses between patients with diabetes but without retinopathy and those without diabetes.Conclusion: The risk-seeking behavior of patients with diabetes and retinopathy was not deliberate but was irrational under uncertainty. Medical professionals should be aware of their patients’ propensity to make irrational decisions, which is an important risk factor for the progression of retinopathy in patients with diabetes regardless of age and educational level.Keywords: behavioral economics, expected utility theory, educational level, cognitive function

Naoya Emoto,1,2 Fumitaka Okajima,1,2 Hitoshi Sugihara,2 Rei Goto3 1Department of Endocrinology, Nippon Medical School Chiba-Hokusoh Hospital, Chiba, 2Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, 3Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan Background: We have recently reported that the attitude of patients toward risk could be a factor in the progression of diabetic complications. In general, risk preference is closely related to socioeconomic status (SES), which includes factors such as age, sex, income, and educational attainment.Objective: We aimed to determine the effect of SES and behavioral propensity on the progress of diabetic complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods: We conducted a survey of 238 patients with difficult-to-control T2DM treated at a hospital in Japan using a modified behavioral economics questionnaire that included questions related to SES. The patients had been referred by general practitioners or other departments in the hospital because of poor metabolic control or unstable complications.Results: Educational attainment was significantly associated with progression of retinopathy in patients

Naoya Emoto,1 Fumitaka Okajima,1 Hitoshi Sugihara,2 Rei Goto3,4 1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, Chiba, 2Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, 3Hakubi Center of Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 4Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan Background: Adherence to treatment and the metabolic control of diabetes are challenging in many patients with diabetes. The theory of neuroeconomics can provide important clues for understanding unreasonable human behavior concerning decisions between outcomes occurring at different time points. Objective: We investigated patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to determine whether patients who are at a risk of developing complications are less risk averse. We also examined whether patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different behavioral traits in decision making under risk. Methods: We conducted a behavioral economics survey of 219 outpatients, 66 with type 1 diabetes and 153 with type 2 diabetes. All patients had been referred by general practitioners or other departments in the hospital. At the time of the survey, levels of hemoglobin A1c were not significantly different between patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Results: Patients with type 2 diabetes showed a lower response rate to the survey compared with patients with type 1 diabetes (71.9% vs 87.9%, P