Economic evaluation of three dialysis methods in patients with end-stage renal disease in China.

OBJECTIVES: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) may result in different degrees of physical and psychological pain. Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD), continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and hemodialysis (HD) as the main treatment methods lead to a heavy burden on social economic and family financial. However, there are few studies on the economic evaluation of the three dialysis methods in China. METHODS: Cost-effectiveness analyses were performed using Markov models based on longitudinal data for 15 years of different modalities in Kunshan City, China. Direct cost derived from medical insurance information system, and indirect cost referred to as loss of productivity. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to study uncertainty. RESULTS: The per capita total cost of CAPD was 664,027.00 yuan, the per capita utility is 5.9105. The per capita total cost of APD was 858,800.65 yuan, the per capita utility is 6.4548. The per capita total cost of HD was 1,281,213.64 yuan, the per capita utility is 6.1356. When CAPD was compared with HD, Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) was 1,323,389.53 yuan per QALY, compared with APD, ICER was 357,848.13 yuan per QALY. ICER value suggests that APD was cost-effective compared with CAPD and HD at a willingness-to-pay threshold of 538,200 yuan. CONCLUSION: Our research showed that APD is the most appropriate and HD is the worst in terms of cost-effectiveness. However, in fact, HD accounts for a high proportion in China, so some relevant policy suggestions need to be implemented to change the current situation.

Do online applications for free assistive technology devices by individuals with disabilities introduce moral hazard? Evidence from Shanghai, China.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether moral hazard may exist under unsupervised home-based online applications, leading to more assistive technology devices (ATDs) and larger per capita expenditures on ATDs than under supervised community center-based online applications. METHODS: Using the data from the Assistive Devices Resource Centre in Shanghai, descriptive statistics were estimated for the sociodemographics of applicants. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to test the effect of the introduction of home-based online applications. RESULTS: In 2015-2016, there were marked increases of 22.3% in the total number of ATDs and 27.2% in the total expenditure on ATDs compared with 2013-2014. The per capita number and expenditure also demonstrated an increasing trend. More devices were applied for in 2015-2016 than in 2013-2014, yielding a higher expenditure per capita (P < .001). Interestingly, with an invisible price, more devices were applied for at home than in community centers (P < .001), but the expenditure per capita was smaller (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of online applications increased the number of ATDs per capita. The home-based applications induced the purchase of more ATDs but not higher expenditures on ATDs. Individuals with disabilities tend to request the maximum number of ATDs allowed by the application rules, which is an indicator of moral hazard. The prices of ATDs were not visible for individuals with disabilities, which may cause individuals to order costlier ATDs when applying at home. Stricter review may be needed to reign in the potential moral hazard among online applicants with disabilities.