Clinical and Economic Burden of Pediatric Mild-to-Moderate Atopic Dermatitis: A Population-Based Nested Case-Control Study in Sweden.

INTRODUCTION: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin condition characterized by pruritic, eczematous lesions. Recent evidence suggests that AD may be a systemic disorder, implying that management of this disease extends beyond merely controlling symptoms associated with AD. Even though this disease is highly prevalent in children and patients typically present with mild-to-moderate symptoms, the disease burden is not well established. METHODS: A large, retrospective cohort study of Swedish population data was conducted to compare the clinical burden in terms of healthcare resource use and direct medical costs for pediatric mild-to-moderate (pM2M) AD patients (≤ 14 years of age, N = 87,721) with matched controls. The burden of a severe AD cohort was also evaluated. Severity of AD was defined by treatment usage and systemic treatment was used as a proxy for severe AD. A robust approach was used by including any type of secondary care visits known to be more common in AD patients than in the general population; however, data for primary care visits were not available. RESULTS: For healthcare resource use, the incidence rate ratio (pM2M AD versus reference cohort) of secondary care visits ranged from 1.56 to 2.35 during each of 5 years after AD onset (all p < 0.001), with largest differences seen in years 1-2. The average direct medical cost (SD) was €1111 (3416) and €524 (2446) in the pM2M AD and reference cohorts, respectively. The corresponding estimate in the severe AD cohort was €1906 (7067). Including all secondary care visits and pharmacy-dispensed medications, the pM2M AD cohort was shown to have an additional €118.9 million in direct medical costs over 5 years compared with the reference cohort. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows significant clinical and economic burden of pM2M AD with important secondary care resource utilization, suggesting a need for further research to increase treatment options and improve the management of these patients.

Incorporating the Environmental Impact into a Budget Impact Analysis: The Example of Adopting RESPIMAT® Re-usable Inhaler.

BACKGROUND: RESPIMAT® re-usable enables patients to re-use the inhaler and its availability therefore reduces the number of inhalers and associated wastage. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to perform an economic evaluation that incorporates the ecological impact of adopting RESPIMAT re-usable into the healthcare system in Germany. METHODS: Inhaler costs and environmental impact over 5 years in Germany in a scenario with RESPIMAT re-usable compared to a scenario without RESPIMAT re-usable were estimated using a budget impact model. The carbon emissions were derived for each treatment pattern considering the whole life cycle (cradle-to-grave) of the inhaler product. The cost of carbon emissions was estimated using a societal cost per ton of carbon emission. RESULTS: By introducing RESPIMAT re-usable in Germany, it was estimated that by 2023, the number of inhalers used would have decreased by 5,748,750 compared to a scenario without RESPIMAT re-usable. In addition, this measure would reduce the environmental burden of inhaler use while at the same time reducing medical cost of inhalers. CONCLUSIONS: Adopting RESPIMAT® re-usable to the national healthcare services may be a cost-saving option, which has the additional benefit of reducing the societal cost of carbon emissions.

Elimination of hepatitis C virus in Germany: modelling the cost-effectiveness of HCV screening strategies.

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C is a major public health burden. With new interferon-free direct-acting agents (showing sustained viral response rates of more than 98%), elimination of HCV seems feasible for the first time. However, as HCV infection often remains undiagnosed, screening is crucial for improving health outcomes of HCV-patients. Our aim was to assess the long-term cost-effectiveness of a nationwide screening strategy in Germany. METHODS: We used a Markov cohort model to simulate disease progression and examine long-term population outcomes, HCV associated costs and cost-effectiveness of HCV screening. The model divides the total population into three subpopulations: general population (GEP), people who inject drugs (PWID) and HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM), with total infection numbers being highest in GEP, but new infections occurring only in PWIDs and MSM. The model compares four alternative screening strategies (no/basic/advanced/total screening) differing in participation and treatment rates. RESULTS: Total number of HCV-infected patients declined from 275,000 in 2015 to between 125,000 (no screening) and 14,000 (total screening) in 2040. Similarly, lost quality adjusted life years (QALYs) were 320,000 QALYs lower, while costs were 2.4 billion EUR higher in total screening compared to no screening. While incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) increased sharply in GEP and MSM with more comprehensive strategies (30,000 EUR per QALY for total vs. advanced screening), ICER decreased in PWIDs (30 EUR per QALY for total vs. advanced screening). CONCLUSIONS: Screening is key to have an efficient decline of the HCV-infected population in Germany. Recommendation for an overall population screening is to screen the total PWID subpopulation, and to apply less comprehensive advanced screening for MSM and GEP.

A Budget Impact Model to Estimate the Environmental Impact of Adopting RESPIMAT® Re-usable in the Nordics and Benelux.

INTRODUCTION: The healthcare sector contributes 5-8% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Global and regional organizations and governments have started to design and implement measures to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in the healthcare sector, e.g. by green public procurement policies and inclusion of ecological considerations in the decision-making process for purchasing and funding of healthcare technologies. The objective of this study was to perform budget impact analysis of adopting RESPIMAT re-usable in the Nordics and Benelux that considered both the traditional healthcare costs as well as the environmental impact. METHODS: Inhaler costs and environmental impact over 5 years in the Nordics and Benelux in a scenario with RESPIMAT re-usable compared to a scenario without RESPIMAT re-usable were estimated using an budget impact model. RESPIMAT re-usable enables patients to re-use the inhaler device and its availability therefore reduces the number of inhalers and associated wastage. The carbon emissions were derived for each treatment pattern considering the whole life cycle (cradle-to-grave) of the inhaler product. The cost of carbon emissions was estimated using a societal cost per ton of carbon emission. RESULTS: Progressively introducing RESPIMAT re-usable in the Nordics and Benelux was estimated to decrease the number of inhalers used by 2023 by 7,466,621 compared to a scenario without RESPIMAT re-usable, which would result in a reduction of the environmental burden of inhaler use of 4717 tCO2e and a decrease in societal cost of €205,888. CONCLUSIONS: Adopting RESPIMAT re-usable would lead to a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions, leading to savings from a societal perspective. FUNDING: Boehringer Ingelheim.

Cost-Effectiveness of Intervention Thresholds for the Treatment of Osteoporosis Based on FRAX(®) in Portugal.

Cost-effective intervention thresholds (ITs) based on FRAX(®) were determined for Portugal. Assuming a willingness to pay (WTP) of €32,000 per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), treatment with generic alendronate is cost effective for men and women aged 50 years or more, with 10-year probabilities for major osteoporotic fractures and hip above 8.8 and 2.5 %, respectively. The aim of the present study was to identify the 10-year probabilities of a major and hip osteoporotic fracture using FRAX(®) validated for Portugal, above which pharmacologic interventions become cost effective in the Portuguese context. A previously developed and validated state transition Markov cohort model was populated with epidemiologic, economic and quality-of-life fracture data from Portugal. Cost-effectiveness of FRAX(®)-based ITs was calculated for generic alendronate and proprietary zoledronic acid, denosumab and teriparatide were compared to "no intervention", assuming a WTP of €32,000 (two times national Gross Domestic Product per capita) per QALYs. In the Portuguese epidemiological and economic context, treatment with generic alendronate was cost effective for men and women aged 50 years or more, with 10-year probabilities at or above 8.8 % for major osteoporotic fractures and 2.5 % for hip fractures. Cost-effective threshold 10-year probabilities for major osteoporotic and hip fractures were higher for zoledronic acid (20.4 and 10.1 %), denosumab (34.9 and 10.1 %) and teriparatide (77.8 and 62.6 %), respectively. A tool is provided to perform the calculation of cost-effective ITs for different medications, according to age group and diverse levels of WTP. Cost-effective ITs, for different medications, age groups and WTP, based on 10-year probabilities of major and hip fracture probabilities calculated with FRAX are provided.