Journal of medical economics
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Review Comparative Study
The cost-effectiveness of pregabalin in the treatment of fibromyalgia: US perspective.
To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of pregabalin in the treatment of fibromyalgia in a US patient population. ⋯ This model found pregabalin to be cost-effective in treating patients with severe fibromyalgia.
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Development and psychometric validation of the Diabetes Therapy-Related QOL (DTR-QOL) questionnaire.
We developed and evaluated the psychometric properties of the Diabetes Therapy-Related QOL (DTR-QOL) as a disease-specific, self-administered questionnaire to assess the influence of diabetes treatment on patient QOL, regardless of treatment method. ⋯ The DTR-QOL, with good reliability and validity, can assess the influence of diabetes treatment on patient QOL. The DTR-QOL can be used regardless of treatment method that patients receive, and this characteristic enables to detect a difference on patients QOL between treatment methods before and after a switch of treatment. Limitations of this study include representativeness of the patient sample. The relatively small number of patients with type 1 diabetes should be noted. Also, responsiveness of the DTR-QOL has not yet been examined.
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Comparative Study
Evaluating the length of stay and value of time in a pediatric emergency department with two models by comparing two different albuterol delivery systems.
Asthma is one of the most common childhood illnesses and accounts for a substantial amount of pediatric emergency department visits. Historically, acute exacerbations are treated with a beta agonist via nebulizer therapy (NEB). However, with the advent of the spacer, the medication can be delivered via a metered dose inhaler (MDI+S) with the same efficacy for mild-to-moderate asthma exacerbations. To date, no study has been done to evaluate emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) and opportunity cost between nebulized vs MDI+S. The objective of this study was to compare ED LOS and associated opportunity cost among children who present with a mild asthma exacerbation according to the delivery mode of albuterol: MDI+S vs NEB. ⋯ The key limitations of this study include its retrospective design, the proxy non-standard definition of mild asthma exacerbation, and the opportunity cost calculation, which may over-estimate the value of ED time saved based on ED volume.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is now the third leading cause of death in the US and responsible for significant healthcare resource use. The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in COPD costs over 20 years and assess total direct cost trends over the last 10. ⋯ The prevalence of COPD among females as well as the mean cost per COPD patient has risen sharply over the last 20 years. Cost-shifting from acute services to preventive services may allow US payers and healthcare providers to improve care and better manage costs for patients with COPD. More attention on prevention, diagnosis, and management needs to be directed to women at risk of COPD.
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To perform an economic evaluation of duloxetine, pregabalin, and both branded and generic gabapentin for managing pain in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PDPN) in Mexico. ⋯ This study suggests that DUL provides overall savings and better health outcomes compared with branded-GBP and PGB. Administering DUL rather than generic-GBP is a cost-effective intervention to manage PDPN in Mexico.