Journal of medical economics
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Comparative Study
A cost-utility study of the use of pregabalin in treatment-refractory neuropathic pain.
A small but significant proportion of patients with peripheral neuropathic pain (NeP) are refractory to the typical treatments applied in clinical practice, including amitriptyline and gabapentin. Thus, they continue to suffer the debilitating effects of NeP. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of pregabalin in comparison to usual care, in patients with refractory NeP, from a third party payer's perspective (NHS). ⋯ The analysis shows that pregabalin is a cost-effective alternative to usual care in patients with refractory NeP, with an ICER well below the threshold typically adopted by UK health technology assessment groups, such as NICE.
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Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is the most common cause of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI). Management of PEI due to CP is achieved through lifelong treatment with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT). To the authors' knowledge, no cost-effectiveness analysis on the benefit of PERT in CP patients with PEI has been performed to date. The objective of this analysis was to examine the cost-effectiveness of Creon (pancreatin minimicrospheres [MMS]), one of the main PERTs available in Poland, in treating patients with CP-related PEI. ⋯ Treatment of CP-related PEI with pancreatin MMS is cost-effective from a Polish payer perspective, with an ICER below the accepted 'willingness to pay' threshold of 3-times gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. These results are likely to apply to other European countries.
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Comparative Study
The cost to managed care of managing pulmonary hypertension.
To estimate direct medical costs and resource use for commercially-insured patients within two pulmonary hypertension sub-groups: pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). ⋯ CTEPH and PAH patients incurred higher costs and used more resources than controls in the baseline and follow-up periods.
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More than 100,000 patients each year in Denmark experience nosocomial infections, erroneous medication, or pressure ulcers while hospitalized. The Danish Safer Hospital Program includes 12 bundles for improving patient safety through the introduction and maintenance of evidence-based routine treatment or standard procedures. ⋯ We found that implementation of VB is potentially cost-effective when considering prevention of one case of VAP or death, based on a Danish ICU as a case study.
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To examine treatment patterns and costs among patients with fibromyalgia prescribed pregabalin or tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). ⋯ Patients with fibromyalgia prescribed pregabalin or TCAs had multiple comorbidities and a sizeable pain medication burden, which increased in the follow-up period for both cohorts. Only 5% of pregabalin initiators had been treated with concomitant TCAs at baseline, suggesting that TCAs were inappropriate for these patients owing to their contraindications.