OBJECTIVES : This analysis was aimed to assess economic and health outcomes of Shenfu injection combined with conventional therapy for heart failure patients in China.

METHODS : From the perspective of health care system, a one-year decision tree model was used to estimate the costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of III, IV grade hospitalized heart failure patients treating with Shenfu injection combined with conventional therapy. The model input parameters were derived from health insurance data, Meta-analysis results, and published literature. The subgroup analysis was assessed by different course of treatment (7-day and 14-day). One-way sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effect of uncertain parameters.

RESULTS : The Shenfu injection (7-day course treatment) combined with conventional therapy was a dominant strategy compared to conventional therapy alone. When the course of Shenfu injection treatment changed from 7 days to 14 days, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of Shenfu injection (14-days course treatment) was 9,016 CNY per QALY compared to conventional therapy alone. The Chinese GDP per capita of 2015 is 49,351 CNY, which is much higher than 9,016 CNY. Sensitivity analysis of input parameters showed that the effective rates of Shenfu therapy had the most influence on cost-effectiveness.

CONCLUSIONS : The 7-day course treatment of Shenfu injection combined with conventional therapy were a dominant strategy compared to conventional therapy alone, and 14-day course treatment of Shenfu injection was a cost-effective strategy.