Alcohol and alcoholism : international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
A critical review of pharmacoeconomic studies of acamprosate.
This review assessed the published data on the cost-effectiveness of acamprosate for the treatment of alcohol dependence. ⋯ All five studies have produced consistent results, showing the use of acamprosate, which enhances abstinence rates, to reduce the total costs of treatment and thus be dominant over other rehabilitation strategies not involving pharmacotherapy. In all of the studies, the principal cost-driver is hospitalization. Although there is a short-term increase in treatment costs associated with drug acquisition, these are recovered from long-term savings attributable to reduced hospitalization and rehabilitation costs.