IS IT TIME FOR SMOKING CESSATION PRODUCTS TO BE REIMBURSABLE IN THAILAND?

Author(s)

Thavorn K1, Chaiyakunapruk N21University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2Center of Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research, Mueng, Phitsanulok, Thailand

OBJECTIVES: Currently, no smoking cessation product is listed on National Essential List of Essential Medicine in Thailand. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of non-nicotine smoking cessation products in Thailand from health care system perspective. METHODS: A Markov model was used to simulate the effects of smoking-cessation on cohorts of 10,000 male smokers age 40 who regularly smoked 10-20 cigarettes a day. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of varenicline, bupropion, and nortriptyline compared to self-quitting was estimated. Transition probabilities were obtained from literature reviews, while medical care costs and utilization patterns were derived from a database of a Thai tertiary-care hospital and from the literature. The efficacy of all three products was obtained from a Bayesian meta-analysis. Costs of the medications were obtained from the Thai Drug and Medical Supply Information Center. Both costs and outcome were discounted at three percent. All costs were presented in 2008 Thai Baht. A series of sensitivity analysis including probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and cost-effectiveness acceptability curve were performed.  RESULTS: In comparison to self-quitting, using a non-nicotine smoking cessation product results in cost-savings. Varenicline use results in the highest cost savings of 21,187 Baht or approximately US$605 and life-years gain of 0.25 years. The use of nortriptyline and bupropion was shown to lead to similar magnitude of both life years saved and cost-savings. Nortriptyline and bupropion use had cost-savings of 11,506 Baht and 10,734 Baht, respectively. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses demonstrate that the probability of cost-saving from using nortriptyline, varinicline, and bupropion for smoking cessation were 99%, 85%, and 80%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: From the perspective of the health care system, using of any of the three products yielded cost-savings and life-year gains. These findings may persuade Thai policy-makers to consider including these smoking cessation products on the National List of Essential Medicine.

Conference/Value in Health Info

2009-10, ISPOR Europe 2009, Paris, France

Value in Health, Vol. 12, No. 7 (October 2009)

Code

PRS19

Topic

Economic Evaluation

Topic Subcategory

Cost-comparison, Effectiveness, Utility, Benefit Analysis

Disease

Respiratory-Related Disorders

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