Cost effectiveness of caspofungin vs. voriconazole for empiric therapy in Turkey

A Systematic Review on Economic Evaluation Studies of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Interventions in the Middle East and North Africa

INTRODUCTION

Due to the increase in healthcare budget constraint, economic evaluation (EE) evidence is increasingly required to inform resource allocation decisions. This study aimed to systematically review quantity, characteristics, and quality of full EE studies on diagnostic and therapeutic interventions conducted in 26 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries.

METHODS

PubMed and Scopus databases were comprehensively searched to identify the published EE studies in the MENA region. The quality of reviewed studies was evaluated using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist.

RESULTS

The search identified 69 studies. The cost-utility approach was adopted in 49 studies (71 %). More than half (38 studies; 55 %) were conducted in Iran and Turkey. Sixteen countries (62 %) did not have any EE studies. The most frequently analyzed therapeutic areas were infectious diseases (19 studies; 28 %), cardiovascular diseases (11 studies; 16 %), and malignancies (10 studies; 14 %). Ten studies (14 %), 46 (67 %), 12 (17 %), and 1 study (1 %) were classified as excellent, high, moderate, and poor quality, respectively. The mean of items reported was 85.10 % (standard deviation 13.32 %). Characterizing heterogeneity, measurement of effectiveness, time horizon, and discount rate were missed in 21 (60 %), 22 (32 %), 20 (29 %) and 15 (25 %) studies, respectively. Data on effectiveness and utility relied primarily on studies conducted outside the region.

CONCLUSIONS

The quantity of EE studies in the MENA region remains low; however, overall quality is high to excellent. The availability of local data, capacity building, and national guidelines are vital to improve both the quantity and quality of EE studies in the region.

Empiric treatment against invasive fungal diseases in febrile neutropenic patients: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background

The most optimal antifungal agent for empiric treatment of invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) in febrile neutropenia is controversial. Our objective was evaluate the relative efficacy of antifungals for all-cause mortality, fungal infection-related mortality and treatment response in this population.

Methods

Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Two reviewers performed the quality assessment and extracted data independently. Pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis were conducted to compare the antifungals.

Results

Seventeen RCTs involving 4583 patients were included. Risk of bias of included studies was moderate. Pairwise meta-analysis indicated the treatment response rate of itraconazole was significantly better than conventional amphotericin B (RR = 1.33, 95%CI 1.10–1.61). Network meta-analysis showed that amphotericin B lipid complex, conventional amphotericin B, liposomal amphotericin B, itraconazole and voriconazole had a significantly lower rate of fungal infection-related mortality than no antifungal treatment. Other differences in outcomes among antifungals were not statistically significant. From the rank probability plot, caspofungin appeared to be the most effective agent for all-cause mortality and fungal infection-related mortality, whereas micafungin tended to be superior for treatment response. The results were stable after excluding RCTs with high risk of bias, whereas micafungin had the lowest fungal infection-related mortality.

Conclusions

Our results highlighted the necessity of empiric antifungal treatment and indicates that echinocandins appeared to be the most effective agents for empiric treatment of febrile neutropenic patients based on mortality and treatment response. However, more studies are needed to determine the best antifungal agent for empiric treatment. Our systematic review has been prospectively registered in PROSPERO and the registration number was CRD42015026629.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-017-2263-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The expenditures related to the use of antifungal drugs in patients with hematological cancers: a cost analysis

Objective

The aim of this study is to analyze the expenditures related to the use of antifungal drugs in patients with hematological malignancies.

Methods

In this retrospective study, the expenditures related to use of antifungal drugs for treatment of invasive fungal infections in patients with hematological malignancies between November 2010 and November 2012 were analyzed. Expenditures of antifungal drugs were calculated by converting the price billed to the Republic of Turkey Social Security Institution per patient using the US dollar ($) exchange rate.

Results

We retrospectively analyzed the expenditures related to the use of antifungal drugs in 282 febrile episodes of 126 neutropenic patients. Voriconazole (VOR), caspofungin, and liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) were administered as a first-line antifungal therapy to treat 72 febrile episodes of 65 neutropenic patients, 45 febrile episodes of 37 neutropenic patients, and 34 febrile episodes of 32 neutropenic patients, respectively. The expenditures related to the use of antifungal drugs per febrile neutropenic episode were $3,857.85 for VOR; $15,783.34 for caspofungin, and $21,561.02 for L-AmB, respectively. The expenditure related to the use of posaconazole (POS) was $32,167.39 per patient for primary or secondary prophylaxis.

Conclusion

Improving conditions in the patient’s room, choosing pre-emptive antifungal treatment instead of empirical antifungal treatment, switching to tablet form of VOR after initiation of its intravenous form, secondary prophylaxis with VOR against invasive aspergillosis, primary prophylaxis with POS in high-risk patients, and choosing less L-AmB as being an alternative to other antifungal drugs, may reduce expenditures related to the use of antifungal drugs in the treatment of invasive fungal infections during febrile neutropenic episodes of patients with hematological malignancies.