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Cost–utility analysis of oral deferasirox versus infusional deferoxamine in transfusion‐dependent β‐thalassemia patients
Author(s) -
Keshtkaran Ali,
Javanbakht Mehdi,
Salavati Sedigheh,
Mashayekhi Atefeh,
Karimi Mehran,
Nuri Bijan
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1111/trf.12024
Subject(s) - deferasirox , deferoxamine , medicine , thalassemia , deferiprone , quality adjusted life year , cost effectiveness , pediatrics , risk analysis (engineering)
Background Deferasirox ( DFX ) is a novel iron chelator that has been shown to have similar efficacy and safety compared with deferoxamine ( DFO ) in patients with β‐thalassemia. The aim of this study was to determine the cost utility of DFX versus DFO in β‐thalassemia major patients from I ran's society perspective. Study Design and Methods A M arkov model has been developed to determine lifetime cost and quality‐adjusted life‐years ( QALYs ) of patients. To estimate the annual cost of each method, a cross‐sectional study was conducted among two groups of patients who received DFO and DFX (n = 100 and n = 45, respectively). Also a time trade‐off method was used to estimate the utility of two strategies. Finally a one‐way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the strength of the results. Results Our base‐case analysis showed that estimated total lifetime costs per patient for DFX and DFO were 47,029 international dollar ($Int) and $Int143,522, respectively, while the estimated total discounted QALYs per person were 12.28 and 7.76, respectively. Calculated incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio showed that DSX is a dominant therapy and its estimated lifetime net monetary benefit was $Int273,528. Conclusion We conclude that the use of DFX instead of DFO represents a cost‐effective use of resources for treatment of iron overload in patients with β‐thalassemia from I ran's society perspective.