Table 4.

Cost-effectiveness of various treatment strategies for three-year and lifetime models

Treatment scenario	Cost per patient, $	QALYs	ICER*, $ per QALY
Three-year model
LABA monotherapy for all stages	3,719	2.405	–
CT for stage 3 only	3,758	2.406	39,000
CT for stages 2 and 3	3,853	2.408	47,500
CT for all stages	5,204	2.411	450,333
Lifetime model
LABA monotherapy for all stages	9,636	6.763	–
CT for stage 3 only	9,788	6.769	25,333
CT for stages 2 and 3	10,142	6.776	50,571
CT for all stages	13,282	6.783	448,571

^*The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is the ratio between the differences in costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in each successive strategy. Determining whether a strategy was cost-effective required comparing each ICER to a minimally acceptable value (ie, represents society’s willingness to pay for an additional unit of improvement). A cost per QALY threshold of $50,000 is commonly used as a threshold for determining cost-effectiveness (28). Therefore, strategies of combination therapy (CT) were considered to be cost-effective if their ICER was below a decision threshold of $50,000 per QALY gained. LABA Long-acting beta₂-agonists