Browsing by Subject "cost-effectiveness"

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with prevalence of 0.8% among Finnish adult population. Consequent medical treatment, joint replacement surgery and productivity losses lead to significant expenses for society. While biological treatments for RA are costly, they can improve patients' quality of life and work participation. Economic evaluations provide information on the benefits and costs of these expensive treatments to aid optimal utilization of limited healthcare resources. This master`s thesis comprises the description of the Finnish Current Care Guidelines for RA, the cost of biological treatments and the principles of economic evaluations and health technology assessment. A systematic literature review was performed to identify existing studies examining the cost-effectiveness of biological treatments for RA. Of the 4890 references found with the literature search, 38 original studies and 9 previous systematic reviews were included in the current systematic literature review. Details of the methods as well as information on treatments, costs, benefits and incremental cost-effectiveness were extracted. Quality of the original studies was evaluated using quality assessment tools. Ninety percent (34/38) of the original studies used cost-utility modeling approach. Quality of life estimates were derived from RA specific health assessment questionnaire in a majority of the studies. Based on the current systematic literature review, the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of biological treatments is inconsistent. The incremental cost-effectiveness of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers was 13 500-772 000 €/ quality adjusted life year (QALY) in comparison to conventional disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs (DMARD) among patients without previous treatment with DMARDs. Several studies reported incremental cost-effectiveness ratios over 100 000 €/QALY in this population. Among patients with insufficient response to DMARDs, TNF blockers provided incremental cost-effectiveness ratios between 6 700 and 317 000 €/QALY. In most studies Rituximab was found to be a cost-effective alternative in contrast to other treatments among patients with insufficient response to TNF blockers. Biological treatments are not cost-effective among patients naïve to conventional DMARDs. Meanwhile, in patients with previous DMARD failure TNF-blockers might be cost-effective. The evidence on the cost effectiveness of biological treatments supports Finnish Current Care Guidelines. The quality assessment of the included studies revealed several sources of bias, consequently reducing the validity of the studies. Only a few of the conference abstracts in current subject has been published later as an article indicating existence of reporting bias. This study has several strengths. First, a comprehensive literature search was performed. Second, the quality of included studies was carefully evaluated. Finally, the methods and reporting are transparent. Weakness of the current study is one person extracting data and assessing the quality of the studies, which may reduce the reliability of this study. This systematic literature review is a basis for future studies examining cost-effectiveness of biological treatments in Finnish healthcare system.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a bacterium that causes invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) such as bacteraemia and meningitis, and pneumonia. The prevalence of pneumococcal diseases is high in infants and in ≥65-year-olds. Also, the incidence of pneumococcal disease is higher in medical risk groups compared to the base population. Pneumococcal diseases can be prevented by vaccinations and since 2010 pneumococcal vaccine PCV10 has been in the national vaccination programme for infants in Finland. The aim for this study is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccinations in national vaccination programme for the 65-year-olds in medical risk groups (diabetes, chronic coronary artery disease, asthma and COPD). Secondary aim is to examine uncertainty factors that are related to economic evaluations of pneumococcal vaccinations in the elderly. Cost-utility analysis was used as the economic evaluation method. It is a method where health gains are measured by quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Static multicohort model was chosen for the modelling. Some of the used parameters were acquired from the literature and most of the epidemiology and cost parameters were acquired from research reports and articles published by National Institute for Health and Welfare. Analyses were made for both pneumococcal vaccines that are registered for adults (PCV13 and PPV23) and in 2 different scenarios: Finland’s present situation where PCV10 is in the vaccination programme for infants (scenario A), and hypothetical situation where PCV13 would be in the vaccination programme for infants (scenario B). Based on the analysis, when PCV10 was in the vaccination programme for infants (scenario A), vaccinating 65-year-olds in medical risk groups was cost saving intervention in the health care perspective for both vaccines in chronic coronary artery disease and asthma and COPD risk groups. In diabetes risk group the costs per QALY’s gained were 2 100 € in scenario A. When PCV13 was in the vaccination programme for infants (scenario B), costs per QALY’s gained for PCV13 vaccinations were: diabetes 52 400 €, chronic coronary artery disease 35 900 € and asthma and COPD 22 000 €. The uncertainty of results was tested with deterministic and probabilistic sensitive analysis. In scenario B the results were sensitive for the waning of the PCV13 produced immune protection, the price of the vaccine, the proportion of pneumonia caused by S. pneumoniae, the changes in the pneumococcal disease incidences and the effect that pneumonia has for the health related quality of life. The cost-effectiveness of vaccinating 65-year-olds with pneumococcal vaccines was different depending on the risk group and on which pneumococcal vaccine is in the vaccination programme for infants. In addition, there are several uncertainty factors that have an impact on the results of economic evaluation of pneumococcal vaccinations.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in Finland. Health care costs increase annually and cost of cancer is significant to the society. Because resources are scarce more information is needed about the costs of diseases as well as treatment effectiveness. In addition to clinical effectiveness it is important to assess the value of healthcare technologies from the patient's point of view by measuring the treatment's effect on patients' quality of life. In this thesis a literature review was made on the following topics: cost of treating prostate cancer, prostate cancer patients' quality of life and cost-effectiveness of prostate cancer. The aim of the research was to determine what the drug costs are in relation to the total cost of treatment for prostate cancer in different stages of the disease and assess how the quality of life changes during the first year of treatment depending on the form of treatment. Drug costs were calculated from the health care payer's perspective in a six month cross-sectional study. The study population included a total of 629 prostate cancer patients treated in the Helsinki and Uudenmaa hospital district (HUS). The quality of life study population (N=367) was different of that used to calculate drug costs. The quality of life was measured according to an ongoing cost-effectiveness research at HUS. It was measured with 15D-instrument before receiving cancer treatment and three, six and twelve months after the beginning of treatment. Drug costs in relation to the total cost of prostate cancer treatment were significant. In patients with meta-static cancer drugs were 53 % of the total cost of cancer treatment. In remission patients the total costs of cancer treatment were the lowest compared to other diseases stages, but drug costs were still 30 % of the total costs. For patients receiving palliative treatment, local or relapse cancer patients, and patients whose cancer was just diagnosed, the total drug costs were 19%, 13% and 0%, respectively. Policlinic visits and policlinic procedures were also a significant cause of the total costs. Quality of life of prostate cancer patients is incredibly good compared to age-standardized population. However the patients' quality of life decreases statistically and clinically significantly during the first year of treatment. Before treatment 15D score was 0,91 and after 12 months it was 0,88. When assessed in different treatment groups the quality of life decreased the least in patients treated with waiting. The largest statistically significant change occurred in patients treated with radiation. The strength of the study is that the costs were calculated per patient according to real resource use. The study also had limitations. The costs of primary care were not included in the calculations. Also cancer related pain medication, depression and erectile dysfunction drugs should be included in the drug costs. The follow-up time of measuring quality of life was too short. In the future it would be important to study the cost-effectiveness of medication as well as the cost-effectiveness of the different forms of treatment in prostate cancer.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arythmia. It has been estimated that there will be 14 to 17 million atrial fibrillation patients in Europe by the year 2030. In Finland, there are over 50 000 atrial fibrillation patients. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation increases by age. In addition to age, people who have hearth failure, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, valvular hearth disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease or who suffer from obesity have increased prevalence. Atrial fibrillation is usually not a life threatening condition. However, people who suffer from atrial fibrillation have a greater risk of the stroke compared with people who have normal sinus rhythm. Warfarin has been the standard treatment for preventing the stroke in atrial fibrillation patients. However, there are many inconveniences in warfarin therapy such as food and drug interactions and frequent laboratory visits. Therefore, new oral anticoagulants have been introduced to prevent the stroke in non-valvular atrial fibrillation. These new drugs apixaban, dabigatran, edoxaban and rivaroxaban are more expensive than warfarin. Many people suffer from atrial fibrillation and the number of atrial fibrillation patients is increasing. Due to the expected increase in the number of atrial fibrillation patients in future the costs of the new drugs have led to a concern for their impact on the health care budget. The knowledge of the cost-effectiveness of the new anticoagulants is important for decision making. In this Master's thesis, the cost-effectiveness of rivaroxaban was compared with warfarin for stroke prevention in non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Systematic literature review was used as the study method and 363 studies were screened and 23 of them filled the inclusion criteria. One was a previously published systematic review and 22 were cost-utility studies. All of the cost-utility studies had used decision analytic modelling. The studies were conducted in 13 different countries. In the cost-utility studies included in this systematic review there was a great variability in the cost-effectiveness of rivaroxaban compared with warfarin. Rivaroxaban was cost-effective in more than half of the studies, for example in Belgium, Italy, Norway and Singapore. However, in China, Thailand and Slovenia the cost-effectiveness could not be established. Contradictory cost-effectiveness results were obtained in studies conducted in Germany, Canada and USA. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio varied from 2580 € to 174915 € per quality adjusted life years (QALY) gained with warfarin over all the 22 cost-utility studies. In studies conducted in Europe the incremental cost effectiveness ratio varied from 4188 € 139163 €/QALY gained. In studies where rivaroxaban, apixaban, dabigatran and warfarin were compared together using an indirect comparison or a network meta-analysis it seemed that rivaroxaban was not the optimal treatment. The most common adverse effect of anticoagulation treatment is bleeding. This complication was included in all the cost-utility studies. However, there was only some uniformity of the bleeding events reported. In most cost-utility studies the acute care cost of intracranial hemorrhages was reported and in many studies, also the long term costs. The cost-utility studies included in this systematic review were quite heterogeneous. Because they were done in different countries their health care settings, treatment options and costs were different. There were also differences in cost-effective models. Modell structure, settings, data and assumptions were different. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the studies, no unambiguous answer could be reached to the question concerning the cost-effectiveness of rivaroxaban compared with warfarin. The quality assessment of the cost-utility studies revealed that some quality criteria were not met. Transferability of the results from one country to the other seemed to be poor. The strength of this master's thesis is the comprehensive literature search concerning the cost-effectiveness of rivaroxaban compared with warfarin. Also, the reporting of methods and results are transparent. There are also limitations in this study. One person was conducting the literature search, data extraction and quality assessment. This might have increased the risk for subjective interpretations and errors.

Hepatitis C virus disease is transmitted through blood. Chronic hepatitis C causes liver damages such as liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. It is estimated that there are approximately 20 000 - 30 000 patients infected with hepatitis C virus in Finland. For many years pegylated interferon and ribavirin has been standard of care. However standard of care causes side effects and an adequate treatment response can't be achieved with it. There have been effective direct-acting antivirals available on market which are directed against structural proteins and enzymes of the virus from 2014 onward. These second generation direct-acting antivirals are effective, safe and well tolerated. The only disadvantage is the high price of these medicines which restricts them for severe liver damage patients. More information about cost-effectiveness of second generation direct-acting antivirals is needed to support the decision making. The aim of this master thesis is to describe current care, guidelines, and costs of hepatitis C in Finland. Thesis also describes the principles of economic evaluation and systematic literature review. The purpose of the thesis is to assess cost-effectiveness of second generation direct-acting antivirals versus standard of care in treating of hepatitis C by means of systematic literature review and evaluate the quality of cost-effectiveness analyses. Previously published studies were used to analyze the cost-effectiveness of second generation direct-acting antivirals. In total of 435 references were found through systematic literature search. In addition, two studies were found from the bibliographies of already included studies. Altogether 26 studies were included in the systematic review of which 25 were original studies and one was previously published systematic literature review. The most relevant data of the studies was gathered and analyzed. The quality of the studies was assessed by using three checklists. It is difficult to make conclusions about cost-effectiveness of second generation direct-acting antivirals based on previously published reviews because only one review was found through systematic literature search. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of second generation direct-acting antivirals varied between dominance and 1 135 655 € /QALY compared to standard of care. When compared to another second generation direct-acting antiviral, ICER of second generation direct-acting antivirals varied between dominance and 65 281 € /QALY. It was also analyzed how stage of liver damage affects the incremental costeffectiveness of second generation direct-acting antivirals. The ICER of second generation direct-acting antivirals was between 299 € - 85 195 € /QALY when treating patients with cirrhosis. When treating non-cirrhotic patients, the ICER of second generation direct-acting antivirals was between 2182 € - 177 679 € /QALY.The connection between funder of the study and the ICER of second generation direct-acting antivirals was also analyzed. The ICER was 1717 € - 86 056 € /QALY in studies funded by pharmaceutical company. The ICER was 299 € - 1 135 655 € /QALY in studies funded by other party. Based on the results of the thesis second generation direct-acting antivirals might be cost-effective compared to current standard of care in treating hepatitis C. The cost-effectiveness ratio of second generation direct-acting antivirals is lower in cirrhotic patients than in non-cirrhotic patients. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is lower when pharmaceutical company funds a study. The quality of the cost-effectiveness analyses included in the thesis varied greatly which makes it difficult to draw conclusions and interpretate the results. This study has several strengths. First, literature search was conducted systematically and transparently. Second, quality of the reviewed studies included was assessed by care. Finally, reporting of the results is transparent and repeatable. The study has also some limitations. Selection of the reviewed studies, data extraction and quality assessment of the studies was conducted by one person which may increase the possibility of human error.

As the population becomes older and the amount of multimorbid patients increases, also health care spending increases. New care models are needed where patients’ needs are taken into consideration by providing preventive and patient-centred care. In Finland and internationally, new ways to treat elderly, chronically ill patients have been developed. One of the new models is the health and care plan model. This longitudinal, randomised, controlled trial studied the health and care plan model’s impact on healthcare costs, patients’ physical functioning and patients’ quality of life. The aim of the study was to study the cost-effectiveness of the health and care plan model compared to standard care practice. The goal of this study was to study if rational pharmacotherapy and self-management support can prevent the decline in physical functioning, the decline in quality of life and the increase in health service use and costs among elderly population. This study was conducted between 2014-2018 as a multi-disciplinary cooperation between Tornio health station, University of Helsinki Faculty of Pharmacy and Alatornio pharmacy. The patients in this study were over 75-year old, multimorbid, community dwelling, polypharmacy patients. The patients in the intervention group received an interview based clinical medication review and were formed a medication plan. Furthermore, the patients in the intervention group were planned a health and care plan that was combined with the medication plan into a comprehensive self-management plan in a multi-disciplinary meeting. A case manager was appointed for the patients in the intervention group and the case manager could be contacted by the patients in the intervention group at any point of the study if there arose a non-acute concern with the patient’s health. The patients in the control group were conducted a prescription review based on the information available in the electronic health records system and continued receiving the standard care practice. Cost and effectiveness data were gathered from the patients over the period of two years. The effectiveness data were gathered at Tornio health station where the intervention and control group’s quality of life was measured with the SF-36 generic quality of life measure and physical functioning was measured with Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). The quality of life data gathered with SF-36 were transformed into one preference based single index score SF-6D to calculate the quality of life and quality adjusted life years (QALY). Data about the use of health services were extracted from the electronic health records system and transformed into costs by using the national reference costs. At the beginning of the study, the intervention and control group were statistically significantly similar. During the two-year follow-up, no statistically or clinically significant differences were observed between the intervention and control group in their quality of life, in their physical functioning or in the costs of used health services. However, in the intervention group, the cost of used health services was on average 2 406 euros smaller than those of the control group’s during the two-year follow-up. The health and care plan model was cost-effective compared to standard care practice. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was -64 504 € per one QALY. Based on this study, it is recommended to support the self-management and physical functioning of the elderly with an intervention like health and care plan model to decrease the health care spending. The results of this study can be applied to Finnish healthcare system to decrease the health care spending of multimorbid, community dwelling and polypharmacy elderly patients. The use of real-world evidence increases the reliability of this study.