Table 3.
Costs (£) associated with treating febrile preschool children with paracetamol, ibuprofen, or both. Values are mean (SD) cost per child by treatment group
| Cost item | 0-48 hours (intervention period) | 0-5 days (total follow-up) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paracetamol | Ibuprofen | Paracetamol + ibuprofen | Paracetamol | Ibuprofen | Paracetamol + ibuprofen | ||
| NHS costs | (n=51) | (n=52) | (n=51) | (n=50) | (n=49) | (n=51) | |
| Primary care doctor consultations | 6.15 (15.41) | 3.99 (10.67) | 6.48 (13.36) | 12.10 (28.30) | 10.38 (18.17) | 10.23 (14.67) | |
| Primary care nurse consultations | 0 | 0.15 (1.11) | 0 | 0.58 (4.09) | 0.16 (1.14) | 0 | |
| Other primary care consultations | 2.03 (7.29) | 0 | 0 | 3.55 (9.37) | 0 | 0.36 (2.60) | |
| Total primary care cost | 8.18 (17.26) | 4.14 (11.16) | 6.48 (13.36) | 16.23 (34.11) | 10.54 (18.42) | 10.59 (15.16) | |
| A&E | 2.78 (13.92) | 4.10 (21.84) | 1.39 (9.94) | 2.84 (14.05) | 7.24 (29.86) | 2.78 (13.92) | |
| Prescribed drugs | 0.37 (1.00) | 0.25 (0.85) | 0.29 (0.86) | 0.56 (1.27) | 0.58 (1.43) | 0.55 (1.63) | |
| Total NHS cost | 11.33 (23.18) | 8.49 (29.13) | 8.16 (16.36) | 19.63 (38.11) | 18.36 (40.26) | 13.92 (23.17) | |
| Parental costs | (n=47) | (n=49) | (n=47) | (n=45) | (n=42) | (n=43) | |
| Travel cost | 0.31 (1.04) | 0.02 (0.08) | 0.21 (0.74) | 0.70 (1.56) | 0.29 (0.77) | 0.35 (0.89) | |
| Over the counter drugs* | 2.52 (0.29) | 4.13 (0.00) | 6.75 (0.68) | 3.69 (1.61) | 4.74 (1.44) | 7.96 (2.29) | |
| Other expenditure | 21.03 (62.18) | 16.44 (58.50) | 18.10 (51.64) | 21.97 (63.41) | 24.83 (90.81) | 15.64 (46.74) | |
| Total parental costs | 23.86 (62.20) | 20.60 (58.52) | 25.07 (51.60) | 26.35 (63.37) | 29.90 (90.68) | 24.02 (46.36) | |
A&E=Accident and emergency department.
*Includes cost of study drugs as if parents had bought over the counter.