BACKGROUND To compare a near decade of follow-up, newer control cohort data, use of both the societal and third party insurer cost perspectives, and integration of unilateral/bilateral therapy on the comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of intravitreal ranibizumab therapy for neovascular, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS Value-Based Medicine®, 12-year, combined-eye ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of a hypothetical screening program for untreated amblyopia in 3-year-old children conducted by orthoptists in all German kindergartens in the year 2000. METHODS A cost-utility analysis was performed for which a decision tree was combined with a Markov model. Incremental costs and effects during the children's remaining lifetime were esti...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, usually a sexually transmitted disease, is a risk factor for cervical cancer. Given the substantial disease and death associated with HPV and cervical cancer, development of a prophylactic HPV vaccine is a public health priority. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating adolescent girls for high-risk HPV infections relative to current practice. A ...

In clinical trials, sofosbuvir showed high antiviral activity in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) across all genotypes. We aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of sofosbuvir-based treatment compared to current standard treatment in mono-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotypes 1-4 in Switzerland. Cost-effectiveness was modelled from the perspective of the Sw...

BACKGROUND The long-term health outcomes and costs of helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) assistance remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the cost-effectiveness of HEMS assistance compared with emergency medical services (EMS). METHODS A prospective cohort study was performed at a level I trauma centre. Quality-of-life measurements were obtained at 2 years after...

BACKGROUND The SMART trial is a UK-based, multicentre RCT comparing prophylactic radiotherapy and symptom-based (deferred) radiotherapy in 203 patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma who had undergone large bore pleural interventions. Using costs and quality of life data collected alongside the clinical trial, we will estimate the cost-effectiveness of prophylactic radiotherapy compared to...

BACKGROUND We estimated the cost-effectiveness of intermittent therapy with etanercept in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque-type psoriasis in comparison to non-systemic therapy in Germany. PATIENTS AND METHODS We performed a cost-utility analysis using the endpoint costs per quality-adjusted life year gained (costs/QALY). For this purpose, we adapted a UK-based Markov model by means of ...

BACKGROUND Health adjusted life years (HALYs) are used for estimating burden of disease and as outcomes in cost-effectiveness analyses of medical care and public health interventions. OBJECTIVES The impact of use of health-related quality of life (HRQL) scores associated with the disability-adjusted life year (DALY), the quality-adjusted life year (QALY), and the years of healthy life (YHL) m...

Background Related to escalating health care costs and the questionable effectiveness of multiple interventions including lumbar facet joint interventions, cost effectiveness or cost utility analysis has become the cornerstone of evidence-based medicine influencing coverage decisions. Methods Cost utility of therapeutic lumbar facet joint nerve blocks in managing chronic low back pain was per...