Table 3.

Model Assumptions relating to model structure, effectiveness and resource use.

• Patients failed to respond to treatment options will move to the recurrent health state.

• Patients across all treatment arms, except for fidaxomicin, who fail the initial treatment, will receive an additional dose of the same initial treatment.

• Vancomycin TP was given as a treatment if the patient develops a recurrence or failed to respond to the second dose of treatment. This assumption is based on local practice and because there is some evidence to suggest the response rate for Vancomycin TP is higher [49].

• A recurrent episode is assumed to be instigated by the same bacterial strain and not reinfection by a different strain.

• Constant response and recurrence rates for the same treatment option throughout the model regardless of the number of previous relapses.

• Utility values for single first recurrence and multiple recurrences are the same.

• Patients on either of the FMT treatments are assumed to spend 5 days in the hospital and 10 days if treated with antibiotics, reflecting the time needed to finish the treatment [10].

• Patients will remain hospitalised for a defined number of days for each treatment option even if they recovered before the end of the defined period.

• Patients receiving vancomycin TP were discharged to continue treatment at home after a 10 day hospitalization period, as expert opinion believes that 10 days is enough to evaluate the patient's response to treatment.

• Cost of tests and follow up were not included in the final cost as it is considered to be the same for all treatment options.