Should Increase in Appropriate Self-Care Be Encouraged? Case Study on Economic Savings With Over-the-Counter (OTC) Ibuprofen in Dysmenorrhoea, Migraine, and Acute Rhinosinusitis in the UK

OBJECTIVES: Increased appropriate use of self-care for minor conditions can reduce the number of healthcare professional appointments and, hence, provide opportunity cost savings to the National Health Service (NHS). The receipt of medications over-the-counter can lead to faster access to treatment, improved health-related quality of life, and reduction in education and productivity loss. People who do not use self-care may experience pain unnecessarily due to delays between symptom onset and speaking to a healthcare professional. This study estimates the opportunity cost savings associated with self-care treatment for minor pain conditions using ibuprofen.

METHODS: A model was developed to evaluate the economic impact of a change in the proportion of people using self-care to manage three conditions (dysmenorrhoea, migraine and acute rhinosinusitis) on preventable healthcare resource use from the perspective of the NHS and Personal Social Services (PSS). Productivity and education days lost were also modelled to estimate the wider indirect costs associated with preventable work and school absences due to delays in receiving treatment. Deterministic sensitivity and scenario analyses were also conducted to estimate the uncertainty associated with the analysis.

RESULTS: The use of self-care was increased by 5% in the base case analysis. The results indicated that this increase could contribute to £1,652,148 opportunity cost savings from the NHS and PSS perspective and prevent 73,794 and 9,794 work and school hours lost, respectively, in the United Kingdom over a year. The opportunity cost savings increased to £8,260,738 in year 5. Sensitivity analysis suggests the magnitude of change in self-care, the number of preventable healthcare appointments at baseline and appointment waiting times to be the main drivers of the model results.

CONCLUSIONS: Self-care with analgesia provides opportunity cost-savings to the NHS and frees up the capacity of healthcare professionals so that they can focus on more severe conditions.