Table 4. Costs Used in the Decision Model.
| Cost Variable | costs (in 2010 USD) | Range/distribution | Factors included | Reference |
| Drug costs- prednisone/placebo | $312 | (156, 624) Gamma distribution | Prednisone costs are minimal. Since it is used with every treatment it's not included in the cost. Oncology doctor visits for 4 cycles* | [8], [18] |
| Drug costs - mitoxantrone | $2,804 | (1402, 5609) Gamma distribution | Mitoxantrone, infusion, lab monitoring, follow-up doctor visits for 4 cycles* | [7], [18], [41] |
| Drug costs- abiraterone | $38,308 | ($19,154, $76,617) Gamma distribution | Abiraterone LFT monitoring (every 2 weeks for first 3 months and monthly thereafter), monthly K+ monitoring and oncology doctor visits for 8 cycles* | [8], [18], [41] |
| Drug costs - cabazitaxel | $49,182 | ($24,591, $98,365) Gamma distribution | Cabazitaxel, infusion, lab monitoring and follow up doctors visit for 6 cycles* | [7], [41] |
| Grade III/IV neutropenia - mitoxantrone | $17,374 | ($8,687, $34747) Gamma distribution | Two weeks of G-CSF treatment per cycle for half of grade III/IV neutropenia patients for 4 cycles*, one hospitalization for 9.5% of the grade III/IV neutropenia patients, one follow-up doctor's visit after discharge | [7], [23], [41], [42] |
| Grade III/IV neutropenia- cabazitaxel | $52,121 | ($26, 060, $104, 242) Gamma distribution | Two weeks of G-CSF treatment per cycle for all of grade III/IV neutropenia patients for 6 cycles*, one hospitalization for 19% of the grade III/IV neutropenia patients and doctor visits | [7], [18], [23], [41]–[43] |
| Grade 0-II neutropenia- cabazitaxel | $30,113 | ($15,066, $60226) Gamma distribution | Two weeks of G-CSF treatment per cycle for all of patients for 6 cycles* numbers | [7], [41] |
| Grade III/IV cardiac disorders- abiraterone | $12,012 | ($6,006, $24,025) Gamma distribution | Weighted average costs for dysrhythmia (80%) and cardiac arrest (20%) hospitalizations and 5 EKGs | [8], [18], [43] |
| Grade III/IV bone pain – prednisone/placebo | $11,061 | ($5,531, $22,122) Gamma distribution | Daily Bisphosphonates, morphine, Docusate Sodium, and Acetaminophen for 10.9 months** | [8], [41] |
| Radiation for high baseline pain – abiraterone, mitoxantrone, cabazitaxel | $1,797 | ($899, $3,594) Gamma distribution | One course of radiation therapy with 15 treatments was given to half of the patients with baseline pain in the treatment groups | [37] |
| Radiation for high baseline pain- prednisone/placebo | $3,560 | ($1,780, $7,120) Gamma distribution | One course of radiation therapy with 15 treatments was given to all the patients with baseline pain in the prednisone/placebo group | [37] |
| Death associated hospitalization – all groups | $95,545 | ($47, 773, $191, 090) Gamma distribution | Average cost of last hospitalization for severe side-effects (neutropenia and cardiac events) for an average stay of 22 days | [43], [44] |
*
(reported median cycle numbers were used).
**
(reported medium survival for prednisone/placebo group)