Economic Evaluation of Mailuo Shutong Pill Vs Aescuven Forte Tablets Concomitated with Routine Treatment Separately for Deep Vein Thrombosis Patients in China

OBJECTIVES: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is the third most common cardiovascular disorder in the world, especially in China. The addition of traditional Chinese medicine could improve clinical outcomes and save costs in a big way. The aim of this study is to conduct an economic evaluation between the Mailuo Shutong Pill + routine treatment (MSPC) vs Aescuven forte tablets + routine treatment (AFTC).

METHODS: A Markov model was built to compare the cost and effectiveness of MSPC and AFTC for 5 years from both payer and society perspectives. The population in this analysis was a cohort with a DVT diagnosis, receiving MSPC and AFTC separately. The clinical outcome and cost (direct and indirect cost) are calculated based on real-world data from the Tianjin big data platform from January 2015 to December 2021. The utilities were extracted from the literature. Both costs and outcomes were discounted at 3.5%. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained was calculated. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) was carried out to deal with uncertainty.

RESULTS: The base analysis results demonstrated that, from a payer perspective, the two groups showed very close QALYs. AFTC was 0.0110 more QALY, compared to the MSPC group. However, AFTC requires ￥11,721,582.99 above MSPC’s payer cost to obtain that 0.0110 more QALY. Similarly, for the analysis from the society perspective, AFTC needs ￥12,891,333.85 more than MSPC just to achieve 0.0110 more QALY.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study which used large scale real-world data, to assess the economic value between two traditional Chinese medicines. This study demonstrates that MSPC is a cost-effective alternative to AFTC for the treatment of DVT patients from both the payer and the society perspective.