Maxillary sinus augmentation with iliac autograft - a health-economic analysis.

PURPOSE: To estimate and compare the costs of maxillary sinus augmentation performed with autologous bone graft either from the iliac crest or from local bone harvested from the mandibula. To evaluate post-operative health-related quality-of-life parameters for patients subjected to sinus augmentation and iliac bone surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The hospital records of 14 patients subjected to sinus augmentation with iliac autograft, and 14 patients treated with local autograft, were analysed with regard to costs related to surgery, hospitalization and sick leave. Post-operative health parameters were assessed with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean hospital costs, administration excluded, for sinus augmentation with iliac autograft was €3447. Policlinic treatment alternatives e.g. local bone autograft with or without bone substitutes, rendered costs of approximately 42% thereof. The loss of production for a worker was 41% of the total cost (€9285). With regard to health-related quality-of-life and post-operative morbidity, most of the patients had recovered 14 days after the iliac graft surgery. CONCLUSION: The cost for a sinus augmentation with iliac surgery exceeds that of a policlinic procedure manifold. Provided that a policlinic operation with local bone, with or without bone substitute, renders an adequate end result, the economic gain would be substantial and post-operative morbidity would be greatly reduced.

Scope and scale insensitivities in a contingent valuation study of risk reductions.

A contingent valuation study asking willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing the overall death risk as well as the risk for fatal and non-fatal injuries in road traffic accidents was performed in Sweden 1998. Different sub-samples were used to test for scale (different risk reductions) and scope (different outcomes) effects, existence of which implies that a respondent is capable of differentiating a WTP-answer accordingly. The results indicated that respondents needed some reference point for their valuation. For instance, dependent samples showed, contrary to independent ones, a significant difference between WTP of dying from any cause and in a traffic accident for the same relative but different absolute risk reduction. Regarding non-fatal traffic accidents, tests were performed comparing valuation of risk reductions for injuries with different outcomes but identical baseline risks and relative risk reductions. Similar to the case above, dependent samples differentiated their WTP and were willing to pay significantly more for a severe injury than for a slight one, which was not the case for independent samples.

Cost-effectiveness of simvastatin versus cholestyramine: results for Sweden.

Cost-effectiveness ratios were estimated for each of 2 plasma cholesterol-lowering drug therapies, the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor simvastatin and the well established cholestyramine, in comparison with a nonpreventive drug treatment alternative. The study was confined to Swedish men (aged 37 to 64 years at start of therapy) with total serum cholesterol levels above 6.2 mmol/L who were free of coronary artery disease (CAD). Costs included expected direct costs of plasma cholesterol-lowering treatment less expected savings resulting from preventing CAD. Effects were defined as changes in life expectancy. A discount rate of 5% and Swedish kronor (SEK) 1988 prices were used. The impact on CAD risks was calculated using multivariate logistic risk estimates from the Framingham Heart Study; Swedish estimates were used to calculate intervention costs and changes in healthcare costs. Over the range of cholesterol levels examined (6.2 to 9.8 mmol/L), simvastatin was consistently more cost-effective than cholestyramine.

Cost-effectiveness of neonatal IgE-screening for atopic allergy before 7 years of age.

Obvious atopic diseases developed in 18% of 1651 non-selected children before 7 years of age. More than 80% of newborns with high IgE concentrations in cord blood developed atopic diseases before this age. Although the sensitivity of the IgE test is rather low (40%), most cases (94%) of severe, long-lasting atopic disease show a high neonatal IgE concentration, and the specificity of the test is high (94%). Calculations of total costs of screening were made on the basis of family history alone compared with neonatal IgE-screening in two groups: all newborn infants, or infants with a family history of atopic disease. The cost of preventive measures and treatment costs were included in the calculations. Results were compared with the cost of conventional treatment. Provided that preventive measures delay onset of symptoms in atopic-risk subjects (and assuming total patient compliance) then IgE-screening was cost-effective in both groups, which screening solely on a basis of family history was not. In Sweden there was a total saving of approx. 20 million SEK or 3 million US$ per annum. Thus, IgE-screening of cord blood to select newborns for preventive measures is also economically worthwhile.