Quality-adjusted Life Year Weights Research Articles

Management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis by telemedicine: connected monitoring. A randomized controlled trial.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prevalent and disabling disease that is the source of significant direct and indirect costs. The current recommended therapeutic strategy is based on the rapid introduction of therapy with conventional Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) combined with regular disease monitoring by the rheumatologist. The onerous nature of such intense monitoring has motivated the development of new, less demanding strategies such as telemedicine. This study aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the connected monitoring of RA patients initiating a new DMARD therapy versus conventional monitoring. An economic evaluation based on a randomized controlled trial of 89 patients was conducted. The patients in the intervention group (n=45) were monitored using a connected monitoring interface on a smartphone, while patients in the control group (n=44) were conventionally monitored. Health outcomes were measured as the gain in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), assessed using the EuroQol-5D questionnaire. Resource use and health outcomes were collected alongside the trial and at the six-month follow-up using application data and the related clinical case manager time, visits, hospitalisations, and transport records. These outcomes were valued using externally collected data on unit costs and QALY weights. Compared to conventionally monitored patients, patients receiving connected monitoring had a slightly greater but not significant gain in the average QALY of 0.07. The economic analysis found that connected monitoring resulted in a significant cost reduction of 72€ (2927€ vs. 2999€, P<0.01). The incremental cost-utility ratio of the intervention was equal to -1,029€ per QALY (95% CI: -32,033; +24,625) with a 97.8% chance of being cost-effective at a threshold of 30,000€ per QALY gained. Implementing EULAR recommendations for RA patients initiating a DMARD treatment using connected monitoring is more efficient and less expensive than conventional care. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03005925).

Not all respondents use a multiplicative utility function in choice experiments for health state valuations, which should be reflected in the elicitation format (or statistical analysis).

Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) that include health states and duration are becoming a common method for estimating quality‐adjusted life year (QALY) tariffs. These DCEs need to be analyzed under the assumption that respondents treat health and duration multiplicatively. However, in the most commonly used DCE duration format there is no guarantee that respondents actually do so; in fact, respondents can easily simplify the choice tasks by considering health and duration separately. This would result in valid DCE responses but preclude subsequent QALY tariff calculations. Using a Bayesian latent class model and data from two existing valuation studies, our analyses confirm that in both datasets the majority of respondents do not appear to have used a multiplicative utility function. Moreover, a statistical correction for respondents who used an incorrect function changes the range of the QALY weights. Hence our results imply that one can neither assume that respondents use the theoretically required multiplicative utility function nor assume that the type of utility function that respondents use does not affect the estimated QALY weights. As a solution, we advise researchers to use an alternative, more constrained DCE elicitation format that avoids these behavioral problems.

Productivity Burden of Occupational Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Australia: A Life Table Modelling Study.

Background: Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) is one of the most common yet preventable occupational diseases. The aim of this study was to estimate the economic burden of ONIHL in the Australian working population by quantifying and monetising ONIHL—related loss of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) and Productivity Adjusted Life Years (PALYs). Methods: We simulated the number of moderate-to-severe ONIHL by multiplying the age-specific prevalence of occupational noise exposure by the excess risks of ONIHL. Life table modelling was applied to workers with ONIHL. The QALY and PALY weights attributable to hearing loss were sourced from published data. The 2016 Gross Domestic Product per full-time equivalent worker in Australia was used to estimate the cost of productivity loss due to ONIHL. The cost due to the loss of well-being was quantified using willingness to pay thresholds derived from an Australian longitudinal study. Results: Under current occupational noise exposure levels in Australia, we estimated that over 80,000 male workers and over 31,000 female workers would develop ONIHL over 10 years of exposure. Following this cohort until the age of 65 years, the estimated loss of QALYs and PALYs were 62,218 and 135,561 respectively, with a projected loss of AUD 5.5 billion and AUD 21.3 billion due to well-being and productivity loss, respectively. Reducing noise exposure at work would substantially reduce the economic burden of ONIHL. Conclusion: ONIHL imposes substantial burden on Australian economy. Interventions to reduce occupational noise exposure are warranted.

A comparison of individual and collective decision making for standard gamble and time trade-off

Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs) are typically derived from individual preferences over health episodes. This paper reports the first experimental investigation into the effects of collective decision making on health valuations, using both time trade-off (TTO) and standard gamble (SG) tasks. We investigated collective decision making in dyads, by means of a mixed-subjects design where we control for learning effects. Our data suggest that collective decision making has little effect on decision quality, as no effects were observed on decision consistency and monotonicity for both methods. Furthermore, QALY weights remained similar between individual and collective decisions, and the typical difference in elicited weights between TTO and SG was not affected. These findings suggest that consulting with others has little effect on health state valuation, although learning may have. Additionally, our findings add to the literature of the effect of collective decision making, suggesting that no such effect occurs for TTO and SG.

Comparing Quality of Life of Patients Undergoing Root Canal Treatment or Tooth Extraction

IntroductionThe knowledge of patient-centered outcomes concerning the consequences of root canal treatment in daily life is limited. The treatment option is often tooth extraction with possible prosthetic replacement. This study aimed to achieve a greater understanding of the patient perspective by evaluating the effect of root canal treatment in terms of quality of life and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) weights in comparison with patients who underwent tooth extraction. MethodsPatients with either root canal treatment or extraction were recruited from 6 clinics in the general public dental service during a predetermined period of 8 weeks. Three different instruments were used: the Oral Health Impact Profile evaluating the oral health–related quality of life (OHRQOL), the EQ-5D-5L evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and QALY weights, and a disease-specific questionnaire evaluating satisfaction regarding the root canal treatment. The evaluation was assessed at the initiation of treatment and after 1 month. Patient-based and tooth-specific characteristics were obtained from the dental records. ResultsEighty-five patients were included. The distribution between sexes was even, with 43 women and 42 men. The mean age was 51.1 years. Forty-eight patients (56.5%) had a tooth extraction, and 37 patients (43.5%) initiated root canal treatment. The response rate for the questionnaire at baseline was 95.3%, and at the 1-month follow-up, it was 74.1%. Two relevant and comparable groups were obtained after exclusion of the extracted third molars (n = 20), resulting in 65 patients for further analyses. At follow-up, the patients who initiated root canal treatment registered a significant improvement in perceived HRQOL according to the QALY weights (P = .02 and P < .01, respectively). Patients initiating root canal treatment reported generally high satisfaction. ConclusionsA cohort of patients either initiating root canal treatment or tooth extraction as a control group was established. Initiating root canal treatment had a positive impact on perceived HRQOL. The included patients in general dental practice registered overall high satisfaction regarding root canal treatment.

Association between the arrested decline in cardiovascular disease and health and social-care costs: a modelling study

BackgroundDementia and cardiovascular disease generate enormous health and social-care costs and have shared risk factors. Following decades of cardiovascular disease mortality declines in England, improvements slowed after 2011. We investigated the potential economic implications of this slowdown. MethodsWe used the IMPACT better aging model—an open-cohort, stochastic Markov model. We synthesised trends in cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality, dementia, and disability (defined as reported diagnosis, functional impairment, or measured cognitive impairment) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and Office for National Statistics data. We projected trends for adults aged 35–100 years in England and Wales from 2019–29. We modelled undiscounted health and social-care costs (primary outcome), and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) under the following two scenarios: age-specific cardiovascular disease incidence continues to decline, recommencing previous downward trends (scenario one); or age-specific cardiovascular disease incidence plateaus after 2006, continuing recent trends, assuming changes in mortality reflect incidence 5 years before (scenario two). We linked 85% of ELSA participants to their Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data, which were costed and calibrated to national estimates. Age-related social-care costs were estimated by use of reported contact hours from ELSA combined with standard reference costs. Standard catalogues were used for QALY weights. FindingsIn scenario one, changes in population size and health were projected to increase health-care costs by around 12% between 2019 and 2029, from £93·0 billion to £104·6 billion per year (in 2019 prices). Social-care costs were projected to increase by around 27%, from £8·0 billion to £10·2 billion per year. In scenario two, health-care costs were projected to increase by around 15%, from £95·3 billion to £109·6 billion, and social-care costs by around 30%, from £8·2 billion to £10·7 billion, between 2019 and 2029. The overall net monetary cost of this slowdown in cardiovascular disease decline was £17·5 billion per year (made up of 200 000 QALYs and £5·5 billion in health and social-care costs). InterpretationWe predict social-care costs will grow twice as fast as health-care costs over the next decade, even if cardiovascular disease occurrence continues to decline. Understanding the scale of the future health and social-care funding challenge might support proactive policy making. This study represents the first time ELSA data have been linked with HES data. However, we did not assess changes in health and social-care efficiency over time or the effect of spending on improving health. FundingBritish Heart Foundation

Health state utility values (QALY weights) for Huntington\u2019s disease: an analysis of data from the European Huntington\u2019s Disease Network (EHDN)

BackgroundHuntington’s Disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder which affects individuals’ ability to walk, talk, think, and reason. Onset is usually in the forties, there are no therapies currently available that alter disease course, and life expectancy is 10–20 years from diagnosis. The gene causing HD is fully penetrant, with a 50% probability of passing the disease to offspring. Although the impacts of HD are substantial, there has been little report of the quality of life of people with the condition in a manner that can be used in economic evaluations of treatments for HD. Health state utility values (HSUVs), used to calculate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), are the metric commonly used to inform such healthcare policy decision-making.ObjectivesThe aim was to report HSUVs for HD, with specific objectives to use European data to: (i) describe HSUVs by demographic and clinical characteristics; (ii) compare HSUVs of people with HD in the UK with population norms; (iii) identify the relative strength of demographic and clinical characteristics in predicting HSUVs.MethodsEuropean Huntington’s Disease Network REGISTRY study data were used for analysis. This is a multi-centre, multi-national, observational, longitudinal study, which collects six-monthly demographic, clinical, and patient-reported outcome measures, including the SF-36. SF-36 scores were converted to SF-6D HSUVs and described by demographic and clinical characteristics. HSUVs from people with HD in the UK were compared with population norms. Regression analysis was used to estimate the relative strength of age, gender, time since diagnosis, and disease severity (according to the Total Function Capacity (TFC) score, and the UHDRS’s Motor score, Behavioural score, and Cognition score) in predicting HSUVs.Results11,328 questionnaires were completed by 5560 respondents with HD in 12 European countries. Women generally had lower HSUVs than men, and HSUVs were consistently lower than population norms for those with HD in the UK, and dropped with increasing disease severity. The regression model significantly accounted for the variance in SF-6D scores (n = 1939; F [7,1931] = 120.05; p < 0.001; adjusted R-squared 0.3007), with TFC score, Behavioural score, and male gender significant predictors of SF-6D values (p < 0.001).ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first report of HSUVs for HD for countries other than the UK, and the first report of SF-6D HSUVs described for 12 European countries, according to demographic and clinical factors. Our analyses provide new insights into the relationships between HD disease characteristics and assessment of health-related quality of life in a form that can be used in policy-relevant economic evaluations.

The Corrective Approach: Policy Implications of Recent Developments in QALY Measurement Based on Prospect Theory

Background and ObjectivesCommon health state valuation methodology, such as time tradeoff (TTO) and standard gamble (SG), is typically applied under several descriptively invalid assumptions, for example, related to linear quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or expected utility (EU) theory. Hence, the current use of results from health state valuation exercises may lead to biased QALY weights, which may in turn affect decisions based on economic evaluations using such weights. Methods have been proposed to correct responses for the biases associated with different health state valuation techniques. In this article we outline the relevance of prospect theory (PT), which has become the dominant descriptive alternative to EU, for health state valuations and economic evaluations. Methods and ResultsWe provide an overview of work in this field, which aims to remove biases from QALY weights. We label this “the corrective approach.” By quantifying PT parameters, such as loss aversion, probability weighting, and nonlinear utility, it may be possible to correct TTO and SG responses for biases in an attempt to produce more valid estimates of preferences for health states. Through straightforward examples, this article illustrates the effects of this corrective approach and discusses several unresolved issues that currently limit the relevance of corrected weights for policy. ConclusionsSuggestions for research addressing these issues are provided. Nonetheless, if validly corrected health state valuations become available, we argue in favor of using these in economic evaluations.

Cost-Effectiveness of Telemedicine in Remote Orthopedic Consultations: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundTelemedicine consultations using real-time videoconferencing has the potential to improve access and quality of care, avoid patient travels, and reduce health care costs.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of an orthopedic videoconferencing service between the University Hospital of North Norway and a regional medical center in a remote community located 148 km away.MethodsAn economic evaluation based on a randomized controlled trial of 389 patients (559 consultations) referred to the hospital for an orthopedic outpatient consultation was conducted. The intervention group (199 patients) was randomized to receive video-assisted remote orthopedic consultations (302 consultations), while the control group (190 patients) received standard care in outpatient consultation at the hospital (257 consultations). A societal perspective was adopted for calculating costs. Health outcomes were measured as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained. Resource use and health outcomes were collected alongside the trial at baseline and at 12 months follow-up using questionnaires, patient charts, and consultation records. These were valued using externally collected data on unit costs and QALY weights. An extended sensitivity analysis was conducted to address the robustness of the results.ResultsThis study showed that using videoconferencing for orthopedic consultations in the remote clinic costs less than standard outpatient consultations at the specialist hospital, as long as the total number of patient consultations exceeds 151 per year. For a total workload of 300 consultations per year, the annual cost savings amounted to €18,616. If costs were calculated from a health sector perspective, rather than a societal perspective, the number of consultations needed to break even was 183.ConclusionsThis study showed that providing video-assisted orthopedic consultations to a remote clinic in Northern Norway, rather than having patients travel to the specialist hospital for consultations, is cost-effective from both a societal and health sector perspective. This conclusion holds as long as the activity exceeds 151 and 183 patient consultations per year, respectively.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT00616837; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00616837 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/762dZPoKX)

Cost effectiveness of a targeted age-based West Nile virus vaccination program

BackgroundWest Nile virus (WNV) is the leading cause of domestically-acquired arboviral disease in the United States. Several WNV vaccines are in various stages of development. We estimate the cost-effectiveness of WNV vaccination programs targeting groups at increased risk for severe WNV disease. MethodsWe used a mathematical model to estimate costs and health outcomes of vaccination with WNV vaccine compared to no vaccination among seven cohorts, spaced at 10year intervals from ages 10 to 70years, each followed until 90-years-old. U.S. surveillance data were used to estimate WNV neuroinvasive disease incidence. Data for WNV seroprevalence, acute and long-term care costs of WNV disease patients, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and vaccine characteristics were obtained from published reports. We assumed vaccine efficacy to either last lifelong or for 10years with booster doses given every 10years. ResultsThere was a statistically significant difference in cost-effectiveness ratios across cohorts in both models and all outcomes assessed (Kruskal-Wallis test p<0.0001). The 60-year-cohort had a mean cost per neuroinvasive disease case prevented of $664,000 and disability averted of $1,421,000 in lifelong model and $882,000 and $1,887,000, respectively in 10-year immunity model; these costs were statistically significantly lower than costs for other cohorts (p<0.0001). Vaccinating 70-year-olds had the lowest cost per death averted in both models at around $4.7 million (95%CI $2–$8 million). Cost per disease case averted was lowest among 40- and 50-year-old cohorts and cost per QALY saved lowest among 60-year cohorts in lifelong immunity model. The models were most sensitive to disease incidence, vaccine cost, and proportion of persons developing disease among infected. ConclusionsAge-based WNV vaccination program targeting those at higher risk for severe disease is more cost-effective than universal vaccination. Annual variation in WNV disease incidence, QALY weights, and vaccine costs impact the cost effectiveness ratios.

Measuring the Benefits of Healthcare: DALYs and QALYs - Does the Choice of Measure Matter? A Case Study of Two Preventive Interventions.

Background: The measurement of health benefits is a key issue in health economic evaluations. There is very scarce empirical literature exploring the differences of using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) as benefit metrics and their potential impact in decision-making. Methods: Two previously published models delivering outputs in QALYs, were adapted to estimate DALYs: a Markov model for human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, and a pneumococcal vaccination deterministic model (PNEUMO). Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom studies were used, where local EQ-5D social value weights were available to provide local QALY weights. A primary study with descriptive vignettes was done (n = 73) to obtain EQ-5D data for all health states included in both models. Several scenario analyses were carried-out to evaluate the relative importance of using different metrics (DALYS or QALYs) to estimate health benefits on these economic evaluations. Results: QALY gains were larger than DALYs avoided in all countries for HPV, leading to more favorable decisions using the former. With discounting and age-weighting – scenario with greatest differences in all countries – incremental DALYs avoided represented the 75%, 68%, and 43% of the QALYs gained in Argentina, Chile, and United Kingdom respectively. Differences using QALYs or DALYs were less consistent and sometimes in the opposite direction for PNEUMO. These differences, similar to other widely used assumptions, could directly influence decision-making using usual gross domestic products (GDPs) per capita per DALY or QALY thresholds. Conclusion: We did not find evidence that contradicts current practice of many researchers and decision-makers of using QALYs or DALYs interchangeably. Differences attributed to the choice of metric could influence final decisions, but similarly to other frequently used assumptions.

Eliciting Societal Preferences for Weighting QALYs for Burden of Illness and End of Life.

. Recent proposals for value-based assessment, made by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom, recommended that burden of illness (BOI) should replace end of life (EOL) as a factor for consideration when deciding on new health technologies. This article reports on a study eliciting societal preferences for 1) BOI from a medical condition, defined as quality-adjusted life year (QALY) loss due to premature mortality and prospective morbidity, and 2) EOL, defined as expected life expectancy of less than 2 years and expected life expectancy gain from new treatment of 3 months or more. . A discrete choice experiment survey was conducted with an online UK general population sample. Respondents chose whether they thought the health service should treat patient group A or B: life expectancy and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with current treatment or life expectancy and HRQOL gains from new treatment, respectively. These attributes were used to derive BOI, QALY gain, and EOL. The respondents' choices were analyzed using conditional logistic regression with a range of specifications examined, including BOI or EOL, QALY gain and QALY gain squared, and robustness. QALY weights were estimated. . The sample of 3669 respondents was representative of the UK population for age and sex. QALY gain had a positive and significant coefficient across all models. QALY gain squared term was negative and significant across all models, indicating a diminishing marginal social value from QALY gains. When included, the BOI coefficient was generally small, positive, and significant, but this was not consistent across the different life expectancy variants. EOL was always positive and significant. . The social value of a QALY gain is not equal between recipients but depends on whether they are end of life, and it may depend on the prospective burden of illness.

Differences between hypothetical and experience-based value sets for EQ-5D used in Sweden: Implications for decision makers

A number of value sets are available today for converting EQ-5D questionnaire responses to quality-adjusted life year-weights used in health economic evaluations. The aim of this study is to analyse the differences between the commonly used hypothetical UK value set and the newly introduced Swedish experience-based value set and to evaluate health economic implications of such differences on policy decisions. Differences between the two value sets were studied using two methods: a comparison of health states and improvements as well as an empirical comparison. In the comparison of health states and improvements, the valuations of all EQ-5D states and all pure improvements were compared. In the empirical study, a database of 23,925 individuals was used to identify patient groups that could be affected by the implementation of the Swedish experience-based value set. The comparison of health states and possible improvements showed that only three health states were assigned a lower quality-adjusted life year-weight and most improvements were given smaller absolute values if the experience-based value set was used. The empirical comparison showed that severe conditions were assigned higher values when using the experience-based value set. The Swedish experience-based value set seems to render a higher estimated level of health-related quality of life in virtually all health conditions compared to the hypothetical UK value set. In extension, health-related quality of life enhancing interventions are likely to be given higher priority in decision-making situations where hypothetical values are used to construct quality-adjusted life year-weights. In situations where experience-based quality-adjusted life year-weights are used, life-prolonging interventions would be prioritised.

Response Patterns in Health State Valuation Using Endogenous Attribute Attendance and Latent Class Analysis.

Not accounting for simplifying decision-making heuristics when modelling data from discrete choice experiments has been shown potentially to lead to biased inferences. This study considers two ways of exploring the presence of attribute non-attendance (that is, respondents considering only a subset of the attributes that define the choice options) in a health state valuation discrete choice experiment. The methods used include the latent class (LC) and endogenous attribute attendance (EAA) models, which both required adjustment to reflect the structure of the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) framework for valuing health outcomes. We find that explicit consideration of attendance patterns substantially improves model fit. The impact of allowing for non-attendance on the estimated QALY weights is dependent on the assumed source of non-attendance. If non-attendance is interpreted as a form of preference heterogeneity, then the inferences from the LC and EAA models are similar to those from standard models, while if respondents ignore attributes to simplify the choice task, the QALY weights differ from those using the standard approach. Because the cause of non-attendance is unknown in the absence of additional data, a policymaker may use the range of weights implied by the two approaches to conduct a sensitivity analysis.

Opportunity Costs Associated with Caring for Older Mexican-Americans

Long-term care use among older Mexican-Americans is poorly understood, despite the adverse effects on health and economic disadvantage in this vulnerable population. This study examines gender-based risk of long-term care use in 628 women and 391 men, age 70 and over in the 2000-2001 and 2004-2005 waves of the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly. Logistic regression models are employed to assess the impact of the opportunity cost implications of family support (kin availability and co-residence) relative to health care needs (quality-adjusted life years (QALY) weighted scores and functional limitations) on women's risk of entry into a nursing home. A small percentage (~5%) of men and women had entered a long-term care facility. Women had lower weights for QALY weights and greater disability than men, but on average were more likely to live with or in closer proximity to an adult child. Higher disability rates (p < 0.01) increased the risk of institutionalization regardless of gender because disability increases time burdens. Families with fewer adult children faced higher time burdens per child in caring for elderly parents; particularly for elderly mothers. Demographic trends suggest that the number of adult children available to share the caregiving load may decrease long-term care use.

Cost‐effectiveness of a nurse‐led education and psychosocial programme for patients with chronic heart failure and their partners

This randomised controlled trial was conducted to estimate the cost-effectiveness of a nurse-led education and psychosocial support programme for patients with heart failure (HF) and their partners. There are few studies evaluating cost-effectiveness of interventions among HF patient-partner dyads. Dyads randomised to the experimental group received nurse-led counselling, computer-based education and written materials aimed at developing problem-solving skills at two, six and 12 weeks after hospitalisation with HF exacerbation. The dyads in the control group received usual care. A cost-effectiveness analysis that included costs associated with staff time to deliver the intervention and travel costs was conducted at 12 months. Quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) weights for patients and partners were estimated by SF-6D. A total of 155 dyads were included. The intervention cost was €223 per patient. Participants in both groups showed improvements in QALY weights after 12 months. However, no significant difference in QALY weights was found between the patients in the two groups, nor among their partners. The intervention was not proven cost-effective, neither for patients nor for partners. The intervention, however, had trends (but not significant) effects on the patient-partner dyads, and by analysing the QALY gained from the dyad, a reasonable mean cost-effectiveness ratio was achieved. The study shows trends of a cost-effective education and psychosocial care of HF patient-partner dyads.

Cost of acute coronary syndrome in Switzerland in 2008

To perform a cost-of-illness study of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Switzerland from a societal perspective, evaluating direct costs, production losses and intangible costs in terms of quality adjusted life years (QALYs) lost. A bottom-up incidence-based approach was used. Data concerning patients with one or more ACS events were extracted from a national hospital database and from mortality statistics. Inpatient costs included acute care and rehabilitation. Outpatient costs included costs for ambulance, visits to GP and cardiologist, outpatient diagnostics, medication and rehabilitation. Production losses included absenteeism, permanent disability and premature death. Intangible costs were calculated on previously published QALY weights. Cost data were derived from official price lists, literature and experts. Future costs and QALYs lost were discounted. In 2008 14,955 patients experienced a total of 16,815 ACS events; 2,752 died as a consequence of these. The resulting 19,064 hospital stays had an average across-hospital length of stay of 9.1 days per patient. Total direct costs of ACS amounted to 630 Mio Swiss Francs (CHF) for society and CHF 462 Mio for health insurers. Total direct costs were dominated by costs of myocardial infarction: ST-elevation 45.8%, non-ST-elevation 35.8%. Production losses were CHF 519 Mio and intangible costs resulted in 49,878 QALYs lost. ACS causes considerable costs in terms of direct medical expenditures, lost production, suffering and premature death, even without taking into account costs for its chronic consequences such as congestive heart failure.

Cost-effectiveness of carotid artery stent placement versus endarterectomy in patients with carotid artery stenosis

The Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST) demonstrated that the risk of the primary composite outcome of stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), or death did not differ significantly in patients with an average surgical risk undergoing carotid artery stenting (CAS) and those undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA). However, the cost associated with CAS may limit its broad applicability. The authors' goal in this paper was to determine the cost-effectiveness of CAS with an embolic-protection device versus CEA in patients with moderate to severe carotid artery stenosis who are at average surgical risk. The probability of the primary outcome was obtained from the results of the CREST trial. The quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) associated with each treatment modality were estimated by adjusting for the incidence of each quality-adjusted outcome (QALY weights of ipsilateral stroke, MI, death, and postprocedure QALYs). The total cost associated with each intervention was derived from hospitalization cost and cost associated with primary outcomes including stroke, MI, and death in each group. Costs are expressed in US dollars accounting for inflation up to October 2010. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were estimated for the 4-year period after the procedure. All values are expressed as means and 95% confidence intervals. The estimated net costs for patients after treatment with CAS and CEA after consideration of the primary outcome were $18,335 and $13,276, respectively, from the definitive presimulation analysis. Postsimulation values were $19,210 (range $18,264-$20,156) and $14,080 (range $13,076-$15,084), respectively. Overall, QALYs for the CAS and CEA groups were 0.712 and 0.702, respectively (ranging from 0.0 [death] to 0.815 [no adverse events]). The estimated ICER for CAS versus CEA treatment was $229,429. Although the CREST demonstrated equivalent results with CAS (compared with CEA) in patients at average surgical risk with severe carotid artery stenosis, broad applicability of CAS might be limited by the higher cost associated with this procedure.

Abstract 2751: Cost-effectiveness of Carotid-Artery Stent Placement versus Endarterectomy in Patients with Carotid Stenosis

Introduction: The Stenting versus Endarterectomy for treatment of carotid stenosis trial (CREST) demonstrated that the risk of the composite primary outcome of stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), or death did not differ significantly in the average surgical risk patients undergoing carotid-artery stent placement (CAS) and those undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA). However, the cost associated with CAS may limit its broad applicability. Objective: To determine the cost-effectiveness of CAS with emboli-protection device versus CEA in average surgical risk patients with moderate-severe carotid stenosis. Methods: The probability of primary endpoint was obtained from the results of the CREST trial. The quality-adjusted life year (QALYs) associated with each treatment modality were estimated by adjusting for the incidence of each quality adjusted outcome (QALY weights of ipsilateral stroke, MI, death and post-procedure QALYs). Total cost associated with each intervention was derived from hospitalization cost and cost associated with primary endpoints including stroke, MI and death in each group. Costs are expressed in US dollars accounting for inflation up to October 2010. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were estimated for the four year period following the procedure. All values are expressed as means and 95% percentile intervals. Results: The estimated net costs for patients after treatment with CAS and CEA after consideration of primary endpoint were $ 18,335 and $ 13,276, respectively from definitive pre-simulation analysis. Post simulation values were $19,210 ($18,264- $ 20,156) and $14,080 ($13,076 - $15,084). Overall QALYs for the CAS and CEA groups were 0.712 and 0.702 respectively (ranging from 0.0 meaning death to 0.815 meaning no adverse events). The estimated ICER for CAS versus CEA treatment was $229,429. Conclusions: Although, the CREST demonstrated equivalent results with CAS (compared with CEA) in average surgical risk patients with severe carotid stenosis, broad applicability of CAS might be limited by the higher cost associated with this procedure.

Cost effectiveness of atazanavir-ritonavir versus lopinavir-ritonavir in treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in the United States

Objective:To evaluate lifetime cost effectiveness of atazanavir-ritonavir (ATV + r) versus lopinavir-ritonavir (LPV/r), both with tenofovir-emtricitabine, in US HIV-infected patients initiating first-line antiretroviral therapy.Methods:A Markov microsimulation model was developed to calculate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) based on CD4 and HIV RNA levels, coronary heart disease (CHD), AIDS, opportunistic infections (OIs), diarrhea, and hyperbilirubinemia. A million-member cohort of HIV-1-infected, treatment-naïve adults progressed at 3-month intervals through eight health states. Baseline characteristics, virologic suppression, cholesterol changes, and diarrhea and hyperbilirubinemia rates were based on 96-week CASTLE trial results. HIV mortality, OI rates, adherence, costs, utilities, and CHD risk were from literature and experts.Limitations:The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) may be overestimated because the ATV + r treatment effect was based on an intention-to-treat analysis. The QALY weights used for diarrhea, hyperbilirubinemia, and CHD events are uncertain; however, the ICER remained <$50,000/QALY when these values were varied in sensitivity analyses.Results:ATV + r patients received first-line therapy longer than LPV/r patients (97.3 vs. 70.7 months), had longer quality-adjusted survival (11.02 vs. 10.76 years), similar overall survival (18.52 vs. 18.51 years), and higher costs ($275,986 vs. 269,160). ATR + r patients had lower rates of AIDS (19.08 vs. 20.05 cases/1,000 patient-years), OIs (0.44 vs. 0.52), diarrhea (1.27 vs. 6.26), and CHD events (5.44 vs. 5.51), but higher hyperbilirubinemia rates (6.99 vs. 0.25). ATV + r added 0.26 QALYs at a cost of $6826, for $26,421/QALY.Conclusions:By more effectively reducing viral load with less gastrointestinal toxicity and a better lipid profile, ATV + r lowered rates of AIDS and CHD, increased quality-adjusted survival, and was cost effective (<$50,000/QALY) compared with LPV/r.