Cost-effectiveness model for a specific mixture of prebiotics in The Netherlands

• Published in: The European journal of health economics Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 101 - 110
• Main Authors: Lenoir-Wijnkoop, I., van Aalderen, W. M. C., Boehm, G., Klaassen, D., Sprikkelman, A. B., Nuijten, M. J. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer 01.02.2012; Springer-Verlag; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Allergies; Asthma; Asthma - prevention & control; Atopic dermatitis; Babies; Baby foods; Child; Child, Preschool; Childhood; Children; Clinical trials; Cost analysis; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Databases, Factual; Dermatitis; Dermatitis, Atopic - prevention & control; Dermatology; Disease; Disease management; Disease models; Disease prevention; Economic impact; Economic models; Economic Policy; Economic theory; Economics; Eczema; Epidemiology; Food allergies; Hay fever; Health Care Management; Health Economics; Humans; Infant; Infant Formula; Infants; Intervention; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Models, Econometric; Netherlands; Nutrition; Original Paper; Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes; Population statistics; Prebiotics; Prebiotics - economics; Prescription drugs; Prevention; Primary Prevention - economics; Public Finance; Public Health; Quality of life; Rhinitis; Sensitivity analysis; Steroids; Studies; Tariffs; Netherlands; I-18; Nutrition economics; Prebiotics cost-effectiveness model; Primary prevention atopic dermatitis
• ISSN: 1618-7598; 1618-7601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10198-010-0289-4

The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of the use of prebiotics for the primary prevention of atopic dermatitis in The Netherlands. A model was constructed using decision analytical techniques. The model was developed to estimate the health economic impact of prebiotic preventive disease management of atopic dermatitis. Data sources used include published literature, clinical trials and official price/tariff lists and national population statistics. The comparator was no supplementation with prebiotics. The primary perspective for conducting the economic evaluation was based on the situation in The Netherlands in 2009. The results show that the use of prebiotics infant formula (IMMUNOFORTIS ® ) leads to an additional cost of € 51 and an increase in Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) of 0.108, when compared with no prebiotics. Consequently, the use of infant formula with a specific mixture of prebiotics results in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of € 472. The sensitivity analyses show that the ICER remains in all analyses far below the threshold of € 20,000/QALY. Conclusion This study shows that the favourable health benefit of the use of a specific mixture of prebiotics results in positive short-and long-term health economic benefits. In addition, this study demonstrates that the use of infant formula with a specific mixture of prebiotics is a highly cost-effective way of preventing atopic dermatitis in The Netherlands.