Cost-utility analysis of a pharmacy-led self-management programme for patients with COPD.

Objective: To undertake a cost-utility analysis (CUA) of a pharmacy-led self-management programme for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Setting: A single outpatient COPD clinic at the Mater Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland between.

Method: CUA alongside a randomised control trial. The economic analysis used data from 127 COPD patients aged over 45 years, with an FEV1 of 30-80% of the predicted normal value. Participants received either a pharmacy-led education and self-management programme, or usual care. One year costs were estimated from the perspective of the National Health Service and Personal Social Services and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were calculated based on responses to the EQ-5D at baseline, 6 and 12 months.

Main Outcome Measure: Cost per QALY gained.

Results: The mean differences in costs and effects between the self-management and education programme and usual care were -£671.59 (95 CI%: -£1,584.73 to -£68.14) and 0.065 (95% CI; 0.000-0.128). Thus the intervention was the dominant strategy as it was both less costly and more effective than usual care. The probability of the intervention being cost-effective was 95% at a threshold of £20,000/QALY gained. Sensitivity analyses indicated that conclusions were robust to variations in most of the key parameters.

Conclusion: The self-management and education programme was found to be highly cost-effective compared to usual care. Further research is required to establish what aspects of self-management and education programmes have the greatest impact on cost-effectiveness.