Cost-effectiveness of controlling gestational diabetes mellitus:a systematic review

Abstract Objective Timely screening for hyperglycaemia in pregnancy using a simple glucose test enhances early detection and control of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of identification and/or treatment of GDM. Methods We conducted a systematic review using three electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane) of costeffectiveness studies of GDM screening and treatment published during 2000–2017. Results The initial search discovered 287 references (PubMed 86, EMBASE 195, Cochrane library 6) of which six full articles were included in the review. Two articles were model-based analysis and the remaining four were trial based. Two studies demonstrated favorable cost-effectiveness of intensified management of mild GDM. In the other included studies, neither screening nor treatment of GDM was shown to be cost effective, although results varied with the particular outcome measures used and the assumptions that where applied. Conclusion Neither screening nor treating GDM seems to be convincingly cost-effective from the studies reviewed. However, all studies were done in high-income countries with obviously different health systems than low-/middle-income countries (LMIC) have. Since detection of GDM may be relatively poor in LMIC, screening might be more worthwhile in these countries. Comprehensive research is necessary in LMIC, including the potential outcomes of assessing its cost-effectiveness. Favorable cost-effectiveness could help in bridging the need for and access to increased diabetes screening in early pregnancy in these countries. Keywords Hyperglycemia in pregnancy · Gestational diabetes mellitus · Cost-effectivenes

Health-related quality of life in Indonesian type 2 diabetes mellitus outpatients measured with the Bahasa version of EQ-5D

Objectives To present EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) index scores in Indonesian type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) outpatients and to investigate the associations between EQ-5D and socio-demographic characteristics and clinical condition. Methods Socio-demographic data were collected by interviewing participants, clinical data were obtained from treating physicians and self-reporting. Participants originated from primary and secondary care facilities in the Java and Sulawesi regions. Ordinal regression analysis was conducted with the quintiles of the EQ-5D index scores as the dependent variable to investigate the multivariate association with the participants’ socio-demographic characteristics and clinical condition. Results 907 participants completed the five-level Indonesian version of the EQ-5D. The mean age of the participants was 59.3 (SD 9.7), and 57% were female. The overall EQ-5D index score was 0.77 (0.75–0.79). Male participants had a higher EQ-5D index score compared to females, and the highest percentage of self-reported health problems was in the pain/ discomfort dimension (61%). Factors identified as being significantly associated with lower EQ-5D index scores were: (i) treatment in secondary care, (ii) lower educational level, (iii) dependency on caregivers, (iv) not undergoing T2DM therapy, and (v) being a housewife. Conclusion This study provides estimates of EQ-5D index scores that can be used in health economic evaluations. As housewives were found to experience more T2DM-related pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression, targeted approaches to reduce these problems should be aimed specifically at this group of patients. Potential approaches could involve diseasespecific-counselors (health literacy partners) who provide routine monitoring of T2DM therapy as well as improved health promotion among T2DM communities

Cost-effectiveness analysis of sacral neuromodulation for faecal incontinence in The Netherlands

AIM: Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) plays a major part in the algorithm of management of faecal incontinence, but there are limited data on its cost-effectiveness. This study aimed to analyse this and the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) associated with two different treatment algorithms. The first (SNM-) included use of an artificial sphincter [dynamic graciloplasty (DGP) (50%) and artificial bowel sphincter (ABS) (50%)]. The second (SNM+) included SNM (80% of cases) and artificial sphincter (DGP 10%; ABS 10%) The incidence of sphincteroplasty was assumed to be equal in both algorithms. METHOD: A Markov model was developed. A hypothetical cohort of patients was run through both strategies of the model. A mailed EuroQoL-5D questionnaire was used to determine health-related quality of life. Costs were reproduced from the Maastricht University Medical Centre prospective faecal incontinence database. The time scale of the analysis was 5 years. RESULTS: The former treatment protocol cost euro22,651 per patient and the latter, after the introduction of SNM, cost euro16,473 per patient. The former treatment protocol resulted in a success rate of 0.59 after 5 years, whereas with the introduction of SNM this was 0.82. Adhering to the former treatment protocol yielded 4.14 QALYs and implementing the latter produced 4.21 QALYs. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that introducing SNM in the surgical management algorithm for faecal incontinence was both more effective and less costly than DGP or ABS without SNM. This justifies adequate funding for SNM for patients with faecal incontinence

Cost-effectiveness of a specialized atrial fibrillation clinic vs. usual care in patients with atrial fibrillation

Aims A recent randomized controlled trial demonstrated significant reductions in cardiovascular hospitalizations and deaths with a nurse-led integrated chronic care approach in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with usual care. The aim of the present study is to assess cost-effectiveness of this nurse-led care programme vs. usual care. Methods and results A cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken alongside the randomized controlled trial in which 712 patients were included at the Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands, and allocated to nurse-led care or usual care. Nurse-led care implied guideline-adherent management, steered by dedicated software, supervised by cardiologists. Usual care was regular outpatient care performed by cardiologists. A cost per life-year and a cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) analysis was performed, both from a hospital perspective. The nurse-led care programme was associated with slightly more life-years and QALYs at a lower cost. Specifically, the nurse-led programme contributed to 0.009 QALY gains with a reduced cost of €1109 per patient and a gain of 0.02 life-years with a reduced cost of €735 per patient. Therefore, the nurse-led programme would be considered dominant. In fact, for all the possible values of willingness to pay for a QALY the nurse-led programme is considered to be more likely cost-effective than the care as usual. Conclusion The cost-effectiveness analysis in the present study demonstrated that a nurse-led integrated care approach will save costs and improve survival and quality of life, and is therefore a cost-effective management strategy for patients with AF. Keywords: Atrial fibrillation, Outpatient care, Adherence to guidelines, Cardiovascular hospitalization and death, Nursing, Cost-effectivenes

Methodological considerations in service use assessment for children and youth with mental health conditions; issues for economic evaluation

Economic evaluations are increasingly used in decision-making. Accurate measurement of service use is critical to economic evaluation. This qualitative study, based on expert interviews, aims to identify best approaches to service use measurement for child mental health conditions, and to identify problems in current methods. Results suggest considerable agreement on strengths (e.g., availability of accurate instruments to measure service use) and weaknesses, (e.g., lack of unit prices for services outside the health sector) or alternative approaches to service use measurement. Experts also identified some unresolved problems, for example the lack of uniform definitions for some mental health services

Cost-effectiveness of primary prevention of paediatric asthma: a decision-analytic model

Background Many children stand to benefit from being asthma-free for life with primary (i.e., prenatally started) prevention addressing one environmental exposure in a unifaceted (UF) approach or at least two in a multifaceted (MF) approach. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of primary prevention programmes for Dutch children in a decision-analytic framework. Methods A decision-analytic tree model analysing healthcare costs and asthma cases prevented was developed to compare usual care (UC) with two UF and three MF programmes on the primary prevention of asthma amongst children. Programmes were evaluated through incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and net monetary benefits. Decision and parameter uncertainty were subjected to value-of-information analyses. Results The current UC and one of three MF programmes dominated the other alternatives. The MF programme was more costly but also more effective than UC at an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of (sic)8,209.20/additional asthma case prevented. The value of perfect information to reduce uncertainty was (sic)291.6M at its lowest. Most of the uncertainty in the cost-effectiveness threshold was attributable to the probability and cost estimates for low-risk children. Conclusion This study supports the feasibility of a structured programme that simultaneously addresses exposure to house dust mites, pet dander, environmental tobacco, and breast-feeding as a cost-effective alternative to UC in the primary prevention of asthma amongst children