Journal of medical economics
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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.
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This research addresses the need for population-based studies on the burden of chronic low back pain (CLBP) by examining healthcare service use and costs for patients with and without neuropathic components in the US population. ⋯ The disproportionately high share of interventional resource use in CLBP wNP suggests greater need for new treatment options that more comprehensively manage the range of pain symptoms and signaling mechanisms involved, to help improve patient outcomes and reduce the burden on healthcare systems.
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Using a United Kingdom (UK)-based National Health Services perspective for 2011 this study first estimated the cost-effectiveness and budget impact implications for lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) vs atazanavir plus ritonavir (ATV+RTV) treatment of antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve patients and secondly examined the long-term health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) and economic implications for LPV/r vs ATV+RTV treatment of ART-experienced patients. ⋯ Based on 2011 costs of HIV in the UK and the published efficacy data from the CASTLE and BMS-045 studies, ATV+RTV-based regimens are not expected to be a cost-effective use of resources for ART-naïve patients similar to patients in the CASTLE study, nor for ART-experienced patients based on the only published comparison of ATV+RTV and LPV/r.
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To characterize and compare healthcare resource utilization and costs among patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (pDPN) newly prescribed pregabalin or gabapentin in a real-world clinical setting. ⋯ Among patients initiating pregabalin or gabapentin, there were no significant differences between the drugs in the pre- to post-index changes in all-cause total healthcare costs, despite the increase in prescription costs for pregabalin.
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The randomized clinical trials, RE-LY, ROCKET-AF, and ARISTOTLE, demonstrate that the novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are effective options for stroke prevention among non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. This study aimed to evaluate the medical cost reductions associated with the use of individual NOACs instead of warfarin from the US payer perspective. ⋯ Usage of the NOACs, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban may be associated with lower medical (excluding drug costs) costs relative to warfarin, with apixaban having the most substantial medical cost reduction.