Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of tiotropium versus salmeterol in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of 3 treatments (tiotropium, salmeterol, and no treatment) in patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: A Markov model with a time horizon of 1 year was developed. A hypothetical cohort of 100,000 subjects with moderate COPD with mean age of 65 years, smoking history of 50 pack-years, and disease duration of 9.