OBJECTIVES:

Intravenous (IV) iron is the preferred and most efficacious treatment for patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) when oral iron cannot be used or where rapid iron delivery is required; however, IV infusions are invasive and e.g. require patients to be hospitalized or travel to specialist infusion units, which can have a detrimental effect on quality of life. The required number and duration of infusions varies between IV iron formulations. The aim of the present study was to elicit health state utility values (HSUVs) from a population of IDA-patients in China and to compare the results with a previous study conducted in the general population.

METHODS:

A time trade-off (TTO) study was designed with seven health states covering different numbers of IV infusions of the same duration (either 1, 2, 5, or 7 infusions), different durations of infusion (15-30 minutes versus 30-60 minutes) and risk of long-term side effects of the infusion. Absolute HSUVs were compared with a previous study conducted in the general population in China.

RESULTS:

Patients with IDA reported that 1, 4, and 6 additional IV infusions would result in disutilities of 0.015 (p=0.005), 0.020 (p<0.001), and 0.030 (p<0.001), respectively. The risk of long-term side effects was associated with a disutility of 0.016 (p=0.002) while the difference from reducing the time needed for infusion from 30-60 minutes down to 15-30 minutes was not significant (p=0.805). Absolute HSUVs were consistently higher in the IV iron population, than in the prior general population study, but differences between states were broadly consistent.

CONCLUSIONS:

The present TTO study demonstrated that more infusions and risk of long-term side effects have a significant impact on quality of life in patients with IDA. These results from an IDApopulation were closely aligned with those elicited from the general population.