Table 4. Intervention, NHS healthcare and societal costs (£) over 12 month follow-up between intervention groups: Complete case analysis.
| Acupuncture | Alexander lessons | Usual care | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 104) | (n = 89) | (n = 100) | |
| Intervention costs | |||
| Mean (95% CI) | 389.38 (372.68–406.07) | 586.96 (549.08–624.83)** | - |
| Min-max | [0–420] | [0–660] | |
| Healthcare resource use costs | |||
| Mean (95% CI) | 558.01 (412.73–703.28) | 612.72 (415.27–810.17) | 484.27 (370.78–597.75) |
| Private healthcare for neck pain | |||
| Mean (95% CI) | 85.13 (51.46–118.79) | 69.16 (22.19–116.13) | 60.25 (28.00–92.51) |
| Lost productivity costsa | |||
| Mean (95% CI) | 185.61 (74.46–296.75) | 465.27 (61.95–868.58) | 176.34 (50.39–302.29) |
| Total NHS healthcare costs | |||
| Mean (95% CI) | 947.38 (800.43–1094.33)** | 1199.68 (999.84–1399.51)** | 484.27 (370.78–597.75) |
| Incremental NHS healthcare costsb | |||
| Unadjusted difference | 463.12 | 715.41 | - |
| Adjusted difference (bootstrapped 95% CI)c | 451.32 (285.29 to 634.83) | 667.24 (472.28 to 896.42) | |
| Total societal costs | |||
| Mean (95% CI) | 1218.11 (1036.85–1399.38)** | 1734.10 (1268.44–2199.76)** | 720.86 (530.61–911.10) |
| Incremental societal costsb | |||
| Unadjusted difference | 497.25 | 1013.24 | - |
| Adjusted difference (bootstrapped 95% CI)d | 509.44 (252.11 to 775.93) | 861.70 (491.52 to 1286.13) |
**p<0.001 (independent samples t-test comparing means for acupuncture vs. usual care and Alexander vs. usual care, or acupuncture vs. Alexander for intervention costs)
aIncludes time off work due to neck pain and time off work to attend intervention sessions
bIncremental costs calculated as mean costs of acupuncture group minus mean costs of usual care group and mean costs of Alexander group minus mean costs of usual care group.
cAdjusted for baseline NHS healthcare costs and practice size. 95% non-parametric bias-corrected confidence intervals based on 1,000 bootstrap replications.
dAdjusted for baseline NHS societal costs and practice size. 95% non-parametric bias-corrected confidence intervals based on 1,000 bootstrap replications.