Browsing by Subject "kustannusvaikuttavuus"
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(2017)Psoriasis (Ps) and Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) are chronic inflammatory diseases that are associated with profoundly impaired quality of life. Psoriasis is incurable and therefore the treatment aims to relieve patient's symptoms and improve the quality of life. Biologics are an efficacious treatment option for moderate-to-severe Ps and PsA but their relatively high costs limit their use. Health care resources are scarce and therefore economic evaluations provide crucial information for decision-makers. The objectives of this study was to determine 1) What is the incremental cost-effectiveness of biologics for moderate-to-severe Ps and PsA, and 2) What is the quality of cost-utility analyzes examining the subject. The theory section of this Master's thesis considers the current treatment alternatives for Ps and PsA and costs relating their use. The main principles and methodologies conducting economic evaluation and systematic review are also discussed in the theory section. The empirical section concerns the previous systematic reviews regarding the cost-effectiveness of biologics for the treatment of moderate-to-severe Ps and PsA, while also addressing the results of this systematic review and the quality of included cost-utility analyzes. 1425 references were found with the systematic literature search and 17 of them were included in this study. Eight articles concerned the cost-effectiveness of biologics for the treatment of Ps and nine articles for the treatment of PsA. All of the included studies used cost-utility modelling approach. Based on the results of this systematic review, biologics are cost-effective compared standard care for the treatment of severe Ps. Biologics are also cost-effective compared to the standard care for the treatment of moderate-to-severe PsA. However, future studies, independent of influence of pharmaceutical industry, are needed to confirm these results. The quality of cost-utility analyzes included in this study varied substantially. The main shortcomings related to reporting of the data included, modelling methodologies and the arguments for choosing the treatments compared. The strengths of this study are a comprehensive and systematic literature search, careful evaluation of included data and the transparency of methodologies. The main weaknesses relate to generalizability of the results and the possibility of biases. This study updates the current knowledge of cost-effectiveness of biologics for Ps and PsA, while providing a good foundation for the future studies to be conducted.
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(2013)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.
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(2019)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.
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(2014)Clinical pharmacy is defined as a service which a pharmacist provides for example to a ward or a medical center. In Finland clinical pharmacy (or ward pharmacy) was started in the 1980s but it hasn't expanded widely until at the end of the 2010s. Need for cost-effectiveness research has been under discussion because of increasing health care costs. This kind of research helps to choose the most effective services. Naturally also clinical pharmacy is under effectiveness consideration. A systematic review was conducted considering the cost-effectiveness research of clinical pharmacy. The aim of this review was to find clinical pharmacy interventions which have been proven costeffective. Literature research found 7 articles. Three of these studied pharmacokinetic patient surveillance and in the rest four articles pharmacist worked as a part of multidisciplinary team. In six studies the cost savings were greater than the costs. The other part of this study was about clinical pharmacy in the hospital district of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS). Data was collected from Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH) wards which had had clinical pharmacy services during the years 2009-2012. Collected data included clinical pharmacy costs and amount of work gained with those costs, drug consumption, drug waste amounts, amounts of drugs returned to HUS-pharmacy and amounts of HaiPro-reports. Collected data was presented as a time series. The costs of clinical pharmacy had followed the trend of other health care costs during 2009-2012. Wards with clinical pharmacy had somewhat larger amount of drug waste than the other wards. Amounts of drugs returned to the pharmacy were greater in the wards with clinical pharmacy. The amount of HaiPro-reports grew by a factor of 15 from 2009 to 2012. Especially amounts of drug administration errors and errors in writing down prescriptions were greater in clinical pharmacy wards. The data in this thesis describes only a small part of clinical pharmacists' work in the HUCH area. Making final conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of clinical pharmacy isn't possible with this data. The systematic review can give ideas to improve clinical pharmacy in HUS in a more cost-effective direction.
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(2009)Työn tarkoituksena oli tutkia kahden eri paperinkeräysmenetelmän ympäristövaikutuksia ja kustannuksia. Menetelmien tehokkuuksia vertailtiin kustannusvaikuttavuus-analyysiä apuna käyttäen. Tietoa tarvitaan, koska jätehuollon toimivuuteen, taloudellisuuteen ja ympäristömyötäisyyteen vaikuttaa suuresti se, miten jätteen keräys- ja kuljetustyö hoidetaan. Erilaiset astia- ja kuljetuskalustovalinnat sekä reittisuunnittelu vaikuttavat keräysmenetelmän aiheuttamiin ympäristöhaittoihin ja kustannuksiin. Tutkielma koskee hyötyjätteistä ainoastaan paperinkeräystä, mutta saatua tietoa voidaan mahdollisesti käyttää apuna myös muiden jätteiden keräysjärjestelmien kehittämistyössä. Soveltamisessa on kuitenkin oltava erityisen tarkkana taustaoletusten yhteensopivuudesta. Ympäristövaikutuksia tutkittiin selvittämällä paperin keräys- ja kuljetustyöstä aiheutuvia hiilidioksidi-, typpioksidi- ja hiukkaspäästöjä, koska nämä ovat oleellisimmat päästöt, joita raskas kuljetuskalusto aiheuttaa. Kustannustarkastelussa huomioitiin ainoastaan työn toimeksiantajalle eli Paperinkeräys Oy:lle koituvat yksityiset kustannukset. Vertailussa olivat seuraavat keräysteknologiat: 1) vallitseva menetelmä, jossa keräysastiat ovat pääasiassa 600-litraisia muoviastioita ja tyhjennys tapahtuu perästä täytettävällä pakkaajaautolla sekä 2) menetelmä, jossa keräysastiat tilavuudeltaan suurempia pinta- tai syväkeräysastioita jotka tyhjennetään nosturillisella lava-autolla (kutsutaan tässä työssä uudeksi keräysmenetelmäksi). Päästöjen laskennassa hyödynnettiin VTT:n Lipasto-tietokannan päästökertoimia sekä case-alueiden tietoja koskien tyypillisellä tyhjennyskierroksella käytettyjen autojen ominaisuuksia, kerättyjä tonnimääriä ja ajopäiväkirjoja. Kustannusten laskennan perustana käytettiin Paperinkeräys Oy:ltä saatuja tonnikohtaisia tai nostoperusteisia kustannustietoja. Tietoja täydennettiin tuloksiin vaikuttavilla oletuksilla, joita ovat esimerkiksi oletus menetelmien käyttökustannusten yhtäsuuruudesta sekä oletus, että yhdellä alueella on käytössä vain jompi kumpi keräysmenetelmä. Tulosten mukaan uusi keräysteknologia on ympäristöä säästävämpi. Kustannusvaikuttavuus-analyysi osoittautui relevantiksi ainoastaan Pirkanmaan case-tapauksessa, jonka mukaan on siirtyminen uuteen menetelmään aiheutti sekä ympäristölle, että yritykselle hyötyä, oletuksista riippuen päästöt laskivat 20-50 % ja kustannukset 34-60 %. Pääkaupunkiseudun kiinteistökeräysjärjestelmässä menetelmien tehokkuuksia vertailtiin ainoastaan päästöjen osalta, koska tuottajayhteisölle koituvat kustannukset eivät muuttuneet. Tulosten mukaan uuteen keräysmenetelmään siirtyminen vähensi aiheutuneita päästöjä oletuksista ja päästökomponentista riippuen 2-35 %. Lisäksi tulokset tukivat aiempien tutkimusten tuloksia siten, että aiheutuneet tonnikohtaiset päästöt olivat kiinteistökeräysjärjestelmässä pienemmät kuin aluekeräysjärjestelmässä, johtuen pääasiassa suuremmasta paperisaannosta sekä lyhyemmistä kuljetusmatkoista.
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(2010)Medication review is relatively new intervention in Finland that potentially promotes safe and rational use of medicines. During the recent years, the effectiveness of different kind of medication review procedures has been evaluated in many countries. The results considering the cost-effectiveness have varied and conclusions have been difficult to make. Because of the limited resources, the funders and decisionmakers need evidence-based effectiveness data to get the best possible value for the money spent in health care. The aim of the study was to gather, analyze and summarize the published data of costeffectiveness of the medication review by means of a systematic review. The aim was also to represent the medication review as a concept, procedure and study objective. This study was conducted as an analysis of study methods applied in published studies on cost-effectiveness of medication review procedures. In total, 947 references were found using a systematic literature search covering three electronic databases (Medline, CRD and IPA). Most of the references were excluded based on titles and abstracts, and 85 full-text articles were evaluated. After the duplicates were removed, 11 articles met the requested inclusion criteria and were entered to the study. There was a lot of variation between selected articles. In five articles the description of the medication review was not detailed or the intervention was not equal to the expected content level. Also the outcomes measures used in the studies varied. Most studies measured the use of medicines or the number of drug-related problems in different ways. Quality of life was applied as an outcome measure only in five studies and none of the studies were able to show statistically significant differences between intervention and control groups. Mortality was measured in four studies. In most studies the definition and calculation of the costs was limited and inadequate for proper economic evaluation. It was also common that only the direct drug costs from patient's perspective were calculated. The cost of pharmacist's working hours was taken into account in five studies. The incremental analysis was performed only in one study which also got high quality scores compared to all other studies. On the whole the economic evaluations in the selected studies were of low quality and performed in simple a way.
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(2012)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.
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(2014)The purpose of this study is to evaluate patients' quality of life and healthcare use before and after bariatric surgery and produce new, clinical data-based information on the cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery. Healthcare resources are limited and expenditures have grown from year to year. Therefore it is important to make cost-effectiveness evaluations so that financial resources could be allocated properly. The research population consists of patients who have undergone gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, during the years 2007-2009. The study population consists of 147 gastric bypass patients and 79 sleeve gastrectomy patients. In this study the decision analytic model, used in the Finohta study "Sairaalloisen lihavuuden leikkaushoito" was updated using actual, up-to-date information. The analysis was done using a decision tree and a Markov model with a time horizon of 10 years. The cost data in this study was based on actual data for the first two years after surgery. A forecast model was used to predict the costs for the years 3-10 after surgery. Patients' quality of life scores were based on real data for the years 1 (the year of operation) to 4. Quality of life scores for the other years were predicted. In the literature review section, international studies on the cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery and its impacts on drug therapy were evaluated. The studies showed that the use of medicines, which were used to treat obesity-related diseases were lower in the surgery group. However, drugs used to treat vitamin deficiencies, depression and gastrointestinal diseases were higher in the surgery group. Most studies found that surgery is the most cost-effective way to treat morbid obesity. This study confirms the role of the bariatric surgery in the treatment of morbid obesity in Finland. Even though the healthcare costs were increased in the first two years after the operation, the conclusions of the Finohta study didn't change. The bariatric surgery is cheaper and more effective than ordinary treatment and the most cost-effective way to treat morbid obesity. The mean costs were 30 309 € for the gastric bypass, 31 838 € for the sleeve gastectomy and 36 482 € for ordinary treatment. The mean numbers of quality-adjusted life-years were 6.919 for the gastric bypass, 6.920 for the sleeve gastrectomy and 6.661 for ordinary treatment. However, there is demand for more information for the long-term effects, benefits and risks of the surgery. How much the surgery will actually save money, will be hopefully clarified in the long-term follow-up study, which should also include an actual control group.
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(2017)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.
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(2017)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.
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(2017)Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory rheumatoid disease, that is typically diagnosed in young adults. The symptoms include inflammatory back pain, rigidity in the lumbar and thoracic spines, and peripheral inflammations. The incidence of ankylosing spondylitis among northern European population ranges from 0.2 to 0.5%. The mortality rate of people with ankylosing spondylitis is about 50% higher than in the average population. First-line treatment for ankylosing spondylitis includes physiotherapy and NSAIDs. TNF inhibitors are used for patients whose symptoms cannot be controlled with first-line treatment. In Finland, there are five TNF inhibitors indicated for ankylosing spondylitis on the market: infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, golimumab, and sertolizumab pegol. In 2015, the average medication cost for a patient entitled to reimbursement for TNF inhibitors in Finland was over 12 000 €. The cost-effectiveness of TNF inhibitors in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis compared to conventional care has been extensively studied, but there is less data on the differences between TNF inhibitors. In this thesis, previously published literature on the cost-effectiveness of TNF inhibitors in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis was reviewed, and a patient-specific simulation model based on data from the National Register for Biologic Treatment in Finland was conducted. The aim of the simulation was to compare the cost-effectiveness of TNF inhibitors (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab and golimumab) in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis as the patient's first biological treatment compared to other TNF inhibitors. The simulation was conducted on a lifetime time horizon and incorporated direct health care and medication costs in 2015 euros. As conclusions of the model, all other TNF inhibitors were found dominant over etanercept. The greatest effectiveness was achieved with golimumab, while the costs were lowest with infliximab. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of golimumab compared to infliximab was 63 840 €/QALY. In sensitivity analyzes, the model was found to be very sensitive to TNF inhitors' prices. In addition, sensitivity was also observed for the discount rate and time horizon used.
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(2019)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.
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