LiverRisk score: An accurate, cost-effective tool to predict fibrosis, liver-related, and diabetes-related mortality in the general population.

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive and early assessment of liver fibrosis is of great significance and is challenging. We aimed to evaluate the predictive performance and cost-effectiveness of the LiverRisk score for liver fibrosis and liver-related and diabetes-related mortality in the general population. METHODS: The general population from the NHANES 2017-March 2020, NHANES 1999-2018, and UK Biobank 2006-2010 were included in the cross-sectional cohort (n = 3,770), along with the NHANES follow-up cohort (n = 25,317) and the UK Biobank follow-up cohort (n = 17,259). The cost-effectiveness analysis was performed using TreeAge Pro software. Liver stiffness measurements ≥10 kPa were defined as compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD). FINDINGS: Compared to conventional scores, the LiverRisk score had significantly better accuracy and calibration in predicting liver fibrosis, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.76 (0.72-0.79) for cACLD. According to the updated thresholds of LiverRisk score (6 and 10), we reclassified the population into three groups: low, medium, and high risk. The AUCs of LiverRisk score for predicting liver-related and diabetes-related mortality at 5, 10, and 15 years were all above 0.8, with better performance than the Fibrosis-4 score. Furthermore, compared to the low-risk group, the medium-risk and high-risk groups in the two follow-up cohorts had a significantly higher risk of liver-related and diabetes-related mortality. Finally, the cost-effectiveness analysis showed that the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for LiverRisk score compared to FIB-4 was USD $18,170 per additional quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained, below the willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000/QALY. CONCLUSIONS: The LiverRisk score is an accurate, cost-effective tool to predict liver fibrosis and liver-related and diabetes-related mortality in the general population. FUNDING: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 82330060, 92059202, and 92359304); the Key Research and Development Program of Jiangsu Province (BE2023767a); the Fundamental Research Fund of Southeast University (3290002303A2); Changjiang Scholars Talent Cultivation Project of Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University (2023YJXYYRCPY03); and the Research Personnel Cultivation Program of Zhongda Hospital Southeast University (CZXM-GSP-RC125).

Ultrasound-guided manual vacuum aspiration (USG-MVA) with cervical preparation for early pregnancy loss: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Approximately one in four women will experience a miscarriage in their lifetime. Ultrasound-guided manual vacuum aspiration (USG-MVA) is an ideal outpatient surgical treatment alternative to traditional surgical evacuation. We aimed to examine the cost-effectiveness of US-MVA with cervical preparation for treatment of early pregnancy loss from the perspective of public healthcare provider of Hong Kong. METHODS: A decision-analytic model was designed to simulate outcomes in a hypothetical cohort of patients with early pregnancy loss on four interventions: (1) US-MVA, (2) misoprostol, (3) surgical evacuation of uterus by dilation and curettage (surgical evacuation), and (4) expectant care. Model inputs were retrieved from published literature and public data. Model outcome measures were total direct medical cost and disutility-adjusted life-year (DALY). Base-case model results were examined by sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: The expected DALYs (0.00141) and total direct medical cost (USD736) of US-MVA were the lowest of all interventions in base-case analysis, and US-MVA was the preferred cost-effective option. One-way sensitivity analysis showed that the misoprostol group became less costly than the US-MVA group if the evacuation rate of misoprostol (base-case value 0.832) exceeded 0.920. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, At the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of 49630 USD/DALY averted (1x gross domestic product per capita of Hong Kong), the US-MVA was cost-effective in 72.9% of the time. CONCLUSIONS: US-MVA appeared to be cost-saving and effective for treatment of early pregnancy loss from the perspective of public healthcare provider of Hong Kong.

Comparative Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines for Older Adults in Hong Kong.

Two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines (AREXVY® and ABRYSVO®) were recently approved for older adults in the US. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of AREXVY® and ABRYSVO® from the Hong Kong public healthcare provider's perspective. A two-year decision-analytical model was developed to examine the outcomes of a single RSV vaccination (AREXVY® or ABRYSVO®) compared to no vaccination. Primary outcomes included RSV-related health outcomes, direct medical costs, quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) loss, and incremental cost per QALY (ICER). RSV vaccines are not yet marketed in Hong Kong, base-case analysis, therefore, benchmarked US RSV vaccine prices at 4 levels (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%). AREXVY® and ABRYSVO® (versus no vaccination) gained 0.000568 QALY and 0.000647 QALY, respectively. ICERs of ABRYSVO® (26,209 USD/QALY) and AREXVY® (47,485 USD/QALY) were lower than the willingness-to-pay threshold (49,594 USD/QALY) at 25% US vaccine price. The RSV attack rate was a common influential factor at all vaccine price levels. The probabilities of AREXVY® and ABRYSVO® to be most cost-effective were 0.10% and 97.68%, respectively, at 25% US vaccine price. Single vaccination of ABRYSVO® or AREXVY® for older adults appears to gain QALYs over 2 years in Hong Kong. The cost-effectiveness of AREXVY® and ABRYSVO® is subject to vaccine price and RSV attack rate.

Web-based intervention for improving influenza vaccination in pregnant women: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

A website with vaccine information and interactive social media was reported to improve maternal influenza vaccine uptake. This study aimed to evaluate cost-effectiveness of a web-based intervention on influenza vaccine uptake among pregnant women from the perspective of US healthcare providers. A one-year decision-analytic model estimated outcomes in a hypothetical cohort of pregnant women with: (1) website with vaccine information and interactive social media (intervention group), and (2) usual care (usual care group). Primary measures included influenza infection, influenza-related hospitalization, mortality, direct medical cost, and quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) loss. In base-case analysis, intervention group reduced cost (by USD28), infection (by 28 per 1,000 pregnant women), hospitalization (by 1.226 per 1,000 pregnant women), mortality (by 0.0036 per 1,000 pregnant women), and saved 0.000305 QALYs versus usual care group. Relative improvement of vaccine uptake by the intervention and number of pregnant women in the healthcare system were two influential factors identified in deterministic sensitivity analysis. The intervention was cost-effective in 99.5% of 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations (at willingness-to-pay threshold 50,000 USD/QALY). A website with vaccine information and interactive social media to promote influenza vaccination for pregnant women appears to reduce direct medical costs and gain QALYs from the perspective of US healthcare providers.

Standard diagnostics with and without urine-based lipoarabinomannan testing for tuberculosis disease in HIV-infected patients in a high-burden setting-A cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent clinical findings reported the reduced mortality associated with treatment guided by sputum-based molecular test with urine-based lipoarabinomannan (LAM) assay for tuberculosis (TB) disease in HIV-infected individuals. We aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of sputum-based Xpert tests with and without urine-based LAM assays among HIV-infected individuals with signs and symptoms of TB disease (TBD) from the perspective of South African healthcare providers. METHODS: A one-year decision-analytic model was constructed to simulate TB-related outcomes of 7 strategies: Sputum smear microscope (SSM), Xpert, Xpert Ultra, Xpert with AlereLAM, Xpert Ultra with AlereLAM, Xpert with FujiLAM, and Xpert Ultra with FujiLAM, in a hypothetical cohort of adult HIV-infected individuals with signs and symptoms of TB. The model outcomes were TB-related direct medical cost, mortality, early treatment, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and incremental cost per DALY averted (ICER). The model inputs were retrieved from literature and public data. Base-case analysis and sensitivity analysis were conducted. RESULTS: In the base-case analysis, the Xpert Ultra with FujiLAM strategy showed the highest incidence of early treatment (267.7 per 1000 tested) and lowest mortality (29.0 per 1000 tested), with ICER = 676.9 USD/DALY averted. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis of 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations showed the cost-effective probability of Xpert Ultra with FujiLAM was the highest of all 7 strategies at the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold >202USD/DALY averted. CONCLUSION: Standard sputum-based TB diagnostic Xpert Ultra with urine-based FujiLAM for TBD testing in HIV-infected individuals appears to be the preferred cost-effective strategy from the perspective of the health service provider of South Africa.

Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of Digital Health Technology for Improving the Uptake of Vaccination Programs: Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Vaccination is the most effective strategy to prevent infectious diseases, yet vaccination coverage has not reached the target level. To promote vaccination uptake, digital health interventions (DHIs) have been used in various vaccination programs. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to perform a systematic review of the cost-effectiveness analyses of DHIs for the improvement of the uptake of vaccination programs. METHODS: A literature review was conducted in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), APA PsycINFO (Ovid), Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL Ultimate (EBSCOhost), Center for Review and Dissemination, and Institute for IEEE Xplore up to October 2022. Health economic evaluations that met the following inclusion criteria were included: (1) adult or pediatric vaccination programs; (2) interventions delivered through digital technology; (3) full-scale health economic analyses including cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, cost-benefit, or cost-consequence analyses; and (4) evaluations conducted by model-based or trial-based analyses. The quality of each included study was evaluated using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS). RESULTS: The systematic review included 7 studies. Four of the cost-effectiveness studies were conducted by model-based analyses, and 3 were trial-based analyses. One study reported the additional cost per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained, whereas 6 studies reported the additional cost per individual vaccinated (or return case). The vaccines targeted the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, influenza vaccination, measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, and children immunization at different ages. The DHIs were delivered by television campaign, web-based decision aid, SMS text message, telephone, and computer-generated recall letters. The studies were classified as very good (n=5) and good (n=2) qualities. One study concluded that the DHI was cost-saving, and 6 studies concluded that the DHI was cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first systematic review on cost-effectiveness analyses of DHIs to improve vaccination uptake. All included studies have good to very good quality on study assessment and reported the DHIs to be cost-saving or cost-effective in the improvement of vaccination uptake.

Fecal microbiota transplantation for patients with active ulcerative colitis: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Growing studies have demonstrated clinical benefits of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) therapy (administered by colonoscopy, enema, or both) for active ulcerative colitis (UC). This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of standard treatment with and without FMT therapy for mild-to-moderate active UC from the perspective of US healthcare provider. METHODS: A 10-year Markov model was developed to evaluate the costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of standard treatment plus FMT therapy versus standard treatment alone. Model inputs were retrieved from publish data in literature. Base-case and sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: In the base-case analysis, standard treatment plus FMT therapy was more effective than standard treatment alone (by 0.068 QALYs). Comparing to standard treatment alone, standard treatment plus FMT therapy varied from cost-saving to incremental cost, subject to the number of FMT administrations. One-way sensitivity analysis identified the relative risk of achieving remission with FMT therapy to be the most influential factor on the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of standard treatment plus FMT therapy. Monte-Carlo simulations showed that standard treatment plus FMT therapy with 3 and 6 administrations per FMT course was cost-effective (at willingness-to-pay threshold = 50 000 USD/QALY) in 90.77% and 67.03% of time, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Standard treatment plus FMT therapy appears to be more effective in gaining higher QALYs than standard therapy alone for patients with mild-to-moderate active UC. Cost-effectiveness of standard treatment plus FMT therapy is highly subject to the relative improvement in achieving remission with standard therapy plus FMT therapy and number of FMT administrations per FMT course.

Cost effectiveness analysis of single and sequential testing strategies for tuberculosis infection in adults living with HIV in the United States.

Tuberculosis infection (TBI) frequently progresses to tuberculosis (TB) disease in people co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We examined the cost-effectiveness of single, sequential and no testing (total 12) strategies of TBI in HIV-infected people from the perspective of US healthcare provider. A decision-analytic model (20-year timeframe) was constructed to simulate TB-related outcomes: Direct medical cost and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). In the base-case analysis, the "confirm negative TST followed by QFT-Plus" strategy gained 0.1170 QALY at a total cost of USD3377. In the probabilistic sensitivity analysis of 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations, the probability of "confirm negative TST followed by QFT-Plus" to be accepted as cost-effective was the highest of all 12 strategies when the willingness-to-pay threshold exceeded 2340 USD/QALY. In conclusion, the strategy of "confirm negative TST followed by QFT-Plus" appears to be the preferred cost-effective option for TBI testing in HIV-infected people from the US healthcare provider's perspective.

Bedaquiline-based treatment for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND: The treatment success rate of conventional anti-tuberculosis (TB) regimens for extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is low, resulting in high morbidity and healthcare cost especially in the high TB burden countries. Recent clinical findings reported improved treatment outcomes of XDR-TB with the bedaquiline (BDQ)-based regimens. We aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of BDQ-based treatment for XDR-TB from the perspective of the South Africa national healthcare provider. METHODS: A 2-year decision-analytic model was designed to evaluate the clinical and economic outcomes of a hypothetical cohort of adult XDR-TB patients with (1) BDQ-based regimen and (2) injectable-based conventional regimen. The model inputs were retrieved from literature and public data. Base-case analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed. The primary model outputs included TB-related direct medical cost and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). RESULTS: In the base-case analysis, the BDQ group reduced 4.4152 DALYs with an incremental cost of USD1,606 when compared to the conventional group. The incremental cost per DALY averted (ICER) by the BDQ group was 364 USD/DALY averted. No influential factor was identified in the sensitivity analysis. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, the BDQ group was accepted as cost-effective in 97.82% of the 10,000 simulations at a willingness-to-pay threshold of 5,656 USD/DALY averted (1× gross domestic product per capita in South Africa). CONCLUSION: The BDQ-based therapy appeared to be cost-effective and showed a high probability to be accepted as the preferred cost-effective option for active XDR-TB treatment.

Telemonitoring for patients with inflammatory bowel disease amid the COVID-19 pandemic-A cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: COVID-19 pandemic burdens the healthcare systems, causes healthcare avoidance, and might worsen the outcomes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management. We aimed to estimate the impact of pandemic-related avoidance on outpatient IBD management, and the cost-effectiveness of adding telemonitoring during pandemic from the perspective of Hong Kong public healthcare provider. METHODS: The study was performed by a decision-analytic model to estimate the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and cost of care for IBD patients before and during the pandemic, and to compare the cost and QALYs of adding telemonitoring to standard care (SC-TM) versus standard care alone (SC) for IBD patients during the pandemic. The sources of model inputs included publications (retrieved from literature search) and public data. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the robustness of base-case results. RESULTS: Standard care with pandemic-related avoidance (versus without avoidance) lost 0.0026 QALYs at higher cost (by USD43). The 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations found standard care with pandemic-related avoidance lost QALYs and incurred higher cost in 100% and 96.82% of the time, respectively. Compared with the SC group, the SC-TM group saved 0.0248 QALYs and reduced cost by USD799. Monte Carlo simulations showed the SC-TM group gained higher QALYs at lower cost in 100% of 10,000 simulations. CONCLUSIONS: Standard care for IBD patients during pandemic with healthcare avoidance appears to worsen treatment outcomes at higher cost and lowered QALYs. The addition of telemonitoring to standard care seems to gain higher QALYs and reduce cost, and is therefore a potential cost-effective strategy for IBD management during the pandemic.

Cost-effectiveness of video-observed therapy for ambulatory management of active tuberculosis during the COVID-19 pandemic in a high-income country.

OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused suspension of directly observed therapy (DOT) for patients with active tuberculosis (TB). This study aimed to estimate the outcomes of pandemic-related DOT suspension and the cost-effectiveness of video-observed therapy (VOT) during the pandemic. METHODS: A decision-analytic model was constructed to project outcomes of adult patients with active TB from the perspective of a US healthcare provider. Two model-based analyses were conducted: (1) before (with DOT) and during [with self-administered therapy (SAT)] the pandemic; and (2) VOT vs SAT during the pandemic. The primary outcome measures were direct medical costs and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). RESULTS: In the base-case analysis, care during the pandemic (with SAT) increased the cost (by US$285 per patient) and DALYs (by 0.2155 per patient) in comparison with DOT. Care with VOT reduced DALYs (by 0.4870) and costs (by US$1797) in comparison with SAT. On probabilistic sensitivity analysis, care during the pandemic (with SAT) increased DALYs in 100% of 10,000 simulations, and increased costs in 55.52% of instances. Care with VOT reduced DALYs and costs in 99.7% and 68.79% of instances, respectively. The probability of VOT being cost-effective was 99.4% at the willingness-to-pay threshold of 50,000 US$/DALY. CONCLUSION: Suspension of DOT during the COVID-19 pandemic worsened treatment outcomes. VOT was found to be a cost-effective option for active TB care in an outpatient setting.

A systematic review of pharmacoeconomic evaluations on oral diarylquinoline-based treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis: from high to low burden countries.

Introduction: There is a rising global interest in the pharmacoeconomic evaluations of bedaquiline (BDQ), a novel oral diarylquinoline, for treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB).Areas covered: This article systematically reviewed publications retrieved from Medline, American Psychological Association-Psychology information, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Science direct, Center for Reviews and Dissemination, and CINAHL Complete during 2010-2020 on pharmacoeconomic studies on BDQ for DR-TB treatment. Ten Markov model-based cost-effectiveness analyses identified were conducted in high (n = 4), intermediate (n = 2), and low (n = 4) TB burden countries.Expert opinion: The paucity of model-based health economic analyses on BDQ-containing regimens for DR-TB indicated that further pharmacoeconomic research of BDQ-based regimens, on the aspects of duration of BDQ treatment, types of DR-TB indicated, and settings of regions and health-systems, is highly warranted to inform global cost-effective use of BDQ-based regimens for DR-TB treatment.