Health economic evaluation of direct oral anticoagulants compared with low molecular weight heparin for patient with Cancer-Associated Thrombosis (CAT) in Rajavithi Hospital
Abstract:
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an important global health concern associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Despite established guidelines for VTE treatment, there is a gap between clinical recommendations and their implementation in practice because of limited accessibility, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and among patients with cancer. This study aimed to assess cost-effectiveness of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) on VTE in patients with cancer at a Thai university-affiliated tertiary care hospital. A cost-utility analysis using a Markov model was developed to estimate costs and quality adjusted life-years (QALYs) of DOACs and low-molecular-weight heparin (LWMH) in Thai patients with cancer aged over 60 years. The model with eight health states, including CAT on treatment, pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding (CRNMB), non-intracranial hemorrhage major bleeding (MB), intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), off treatment and any death was developed with a 1 month cycle length and used to estimate costs and health outcomes from a societal perspective with a lifetime horizon. The efficacy and safety of DOACs compared to LMWH were obtained from a network meta-analysis, while the costs were based on a Thai university hospital database. All costs and outcomes were discounted at 3%, and the Thai societal willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold (160,000 THB per QALY gained) was applied. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated to compare costs and QALYs of the interventions. The total lifetime cost of LMWH was 70,928 THB ($2,163), while of apixaban, dabigatran, edoxaban, and rivaroxaban were 26,323 THB ($803), 33,667 THB ($1,027), 29,570 THB ($902), and 22,310 THB ($680), respectively. The QALYs for LMWH, apixaban, dabigatran, edoxaban, and rivaroxaban were 0.771, 0.775, 0.746, 0.759, and 0.770 QALYs, respectively. Compared to LMWH, apixaban provided 0.004 additional QALYs compared with LMWH with a decreased cost of 44,605 THB ($1,360), resulting in cost-saving. On the other hand, dabigatran, edoxaban, rivaroxaban were also associated with lower lifetime costs but reduced life-years and QALYs compared with LMWH. This study revealed that apixaban is likely to be the preferred option for treating patients with CAT. However, according to uncertainties around the input, policy decision making should take into account the uncertainties in the consideration.