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The cost-effectiveness of alendronate in the management of osteoporosis

The cost-effectiveness of alendronate in the management of osteoporosis
The cost-effectiveness of alendronate in the management of osteoporosis
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK has recently issued health economic appraisals for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fracture that are more restrictive than previous guidelines for the management of osteoporosis despite a marked reduction of the cost of intervention. The aim of the present study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of the bisphosphonate, alendronate for the prevention and treatment of fractures associated with osteoporosis. A second aim was to investigate reasons for any disparities in cost-effectiveness between our findings and the NICE appraisals. We compared the effects of alendronate 70 mg weekly by mouth for 5 years with no treatment in postmenopausal women with clinical risk factors for fracture and computed the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) using a lifetime simulation model based on Markov cohort methodology. A sensitivity analysis examined other common interventions. Using a threshold of pound30,000 and pound20,000 per quality of life-year (QALY) gained to determine cost-effectiveness, alendronate was cost-effective for the primary prevention of fracture in women with osteoporosis irrespective of age as was treatment of women with a prior fragility fracture irrespective of BMD. Cost-effective scenarios were also found in women with strong risk factors for fracture with a bone mineral density value above the threshold for osteoporosis. The results were robust over reasonable assumptions in sensitivity analysis. We conclude that alendronate is a cost-effective agent for the prevention and treatment of fractures associated with osteoporosis. These findings, suitable for informing practice guidance, contrast with recent appraisals from 0NICE.
fractures, cohort, osteoporosis, bone, health, risk, disease, women, risk factors, editorial, analysis
8756-3282
4-15
Kanis, J.A.
8da04a36-08a7-4310-b4b4-a6d432439587
Adams, J.
7fcea361-9276-416e-8f44-511d48b84827
Borgstrom, F.
c8fa813a-a664-4de4-bbc5-4ab1ca92ef55
Cooper, C.
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Jonsson, B.
6971845f-f173-4620-a78f-e366a78688c4
Preedy, D.
d543664c-67ad-4692-b863-652ae272fb44
Selby, P.
3c685c56-72fd-4a25-b4b8-120074cc087b
Compston, J.
b64c0d0e-97dd-44c8-97ba-f756f0bc966d
Kanis, J.A.
8da04a36-08a7-4310-b4b4-a6d432439587
Adams, J.
7fcea361-9276-416e-8f44-511d48b84827
Borgstrom, F.
c8fa813a-a664-4de4-bbc5-4ab1ca92ef55
Cooper, C.
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Jonsson, B.
6971845f-f173-4620-a78f-e366a78688c4
Preedy, D.
d543664c-67ad-4692-b863-652ae272fb44
Selby, P.
3c685c56-72fd-4a25-b4b8-120074cc087b
Compston, J.
b64c0d0e-97dd-44c8-97ba-f756f0bc966d

Kanis, J.A., Adams, J., Borgstrom, F., Cooper, C., Jonsson, B., Preedy, D., Selby, P. and Compston, J. (2008) The cost-effectiveness of alendronate in the management of osteoporosis. Bone, 42 (1), 4-15. (doi:10.1016/j.bone.2007.10.019). (PMID:18156107)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK has recently issued health economic appraisals for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fracture that are more restrictive than previous guidelines for the management of osteoporosis despite a marked reduction of the cost of intervention. The aim of the present study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of the bisphosphonate, alendronate for the prevention and treatment of fractures associated with osteoporosis. A second aim was to investigate reasons for any disparities in cost-effectiveness between our findings and the NICE appraisals. We compared the effects of alendronate 70 mg weekly by mouth for 5 years with no treatment in postmenopausal women with clinical risk factors for fracture and computed the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) using a lifetime simulation model based on Markov cohort methodology. A sensitivity analysis examined other common interventions. Using a threshold of pound30,000 and pound20,000 per quality of life-year (QALY) gained to determine cost-effectiveness, alendronate was cost-effective for the primary prevention of fracture in women with osteoporosis irrespective of age as was treatment of women with a prior fragility fracture irrespective of BMD. Cost-effective scenarios were also found in women with strong risk factors for fracture with a bone mineral density value above the threshold for osteoporosis. The results were robust over reasonable assumptions in sensitivity analysis. We conclude that alendronate is a cost-effective agent for the prevention and treatment of fractures associated with osteoporosis. These findings, suitable for informing practice guidance, contrast with recent appraisals from 0NICE.

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More information

Published date: January 2008
Keywords: fractures, cohort, osteoporosis, bone, health, risk, disease, women, risk factors, editorial, analysis

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 61276
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/61276
ISSN: 8756-3282
PURE UUID: 73ab2566-4249-422c-a0fc-e9c6d61b6964
ORCID for C. Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 03 Sep 2008
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:44

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Contributors

Author: J.A. Kanis
Author: J. Adams
Author: F. Borgstrom
Author: C. Cooper ORCID iD
Author: B. Jonsson
Author: D. Preedy
Author: P. Selby
Author: J. Compston

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