Table 1.
Input parameters for the economic evaluation
| Input variable | Base-case value | Range (95% CI) | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costs (€) | |||||
| medication | |||||
| tiotropium | real-worlda | 427.71 | 426.25 | 429.17 | Belgian database |
| theoretical | 621.00 | / | / | BCFI | |
| salmeterol | real-worldb | 225.46 | 223.00 | 227.92 | Belgian database |
| exacerbation | theoretical | 52.72 | 41.34 | 64.48 | result 1000 simulations |
| exac.-rel. hosp. | 5617 | 5555 | 5680 | Belgian database | |
| Utilities | |||||
| exac.-rel. hosp. | QALYgainedc | 0.013 | 0.004 | 0.019 | result 1000 simulations |
| at admission | -0.077 | -0.58 | 0.79 | O'Reilly et al.[9] | |
| at discharge | 0.58 | -0.16 | 0.98 | O'Reilly et al.[9] | |
| LOS (days) | 14.18 | 14.02 | 14.34 | Belgian database | |
| exacerbation | QALYgainedc | 0.003 | 0.001 | 0.005 | result 1000 simulations |
| Events (average per patient) | |||||
| exacerbations | 0.800 | 0.775 | 0.826 | Belgian database and Roede et al.[6] | |
| exac.-rel. hosp. | 0.141 | 0.137 | 0.144 | Belgian database | |
| Efficacy/effectiveness | |||||
| exacerbation | relative riskd | 0.86 | 0.81 | 0.91 | Tashkin et al.[8] |
| exac.-rel. hosp. | relative riskd | 0.94 | 0.82 | 1.07 | Tashkin et al.[8] |
BCFI: Belgian Centre for Pharmacotherapeutic Information; LOS: length of stay; NIHDI: National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance; QALY: quality-adjusted life year
a: based on the first year of tiotropium use
b: based on the year before the first delivery of tiotropium
c: average QALY gained per event avoided
d: using the published 95%CI to define our distribution results in the following mean values in the model: 85.85% instead of 86% and 93.67% instead of 94%.