Dataset Information

Subgroup analysis of telehealthcare for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the cluster-randomized Danish Telecare North Trial.

ABSTRACT: PURPOSE:Results from the Danish cluster-randomized trial of telehealthcare to 1,225 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the Danish Telecare North Trial, concluded that the telehealthcare solution was unlikely to be cost-effective, by applying international willingness-to-pay threshold values. The purpose of this article was to assess potential sources of variation across subgroups, which could explain overall cost-effectiveness results or be utilized in future economic studies in telehealthcare research. METHODS:First, the cost-structures and cost-effectiveness across COPD severities were analyzed. Second, five additional subgroup analyses were conducted, focusing on differences in cost-effectiveness across a set of comorbidities, age-groups, genders, resource patterns (resource use in the social care sector prior to randomization), and delivery sites. All subgroups were investigated post hoc. In analyzing cost-effectiveness, two separate linear mixed-effects models with treatment-by-covariate interactions were applied: one for quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gain and one for total healthcare and social sector costs. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was used for each subgroup result in order to quantify the uncertainty around the cost-effectiveness results. RESULTS:The study concludes that, across the COPD severities, patients with severe COPD (GOLD 3 classification) are likely to be the most cost-effective group. This is primarily due to lower hospital-admission and primary-care costs. Telehealthcare for patients younger than 60 years is also more likely to be cost-effective than for older COPD patients. Overall, results indicate that existing resource patterns of patients and variations in delivery-site practices might have a strong influence on cost-effectiveness, possibly stronger than the included health or sociodemographic sources of heterogeneity. CONCLUSION:Future research should focus more on sources of heterogeneity found in the implementation context and the way telehealthcare is adopted (eg, by integrating formative evaluation into cost-effectiveness analyses). TRIAL REGISTRATION:Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01984840.

SUBMITTER: Witt Udsen F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5508816 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Subgroup analysis of telehealthcare for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the cluster-randomized Danish Telecare North Trial.

Witt Udsen Flemming F Lilholt Pernille H PH Hejlesen Ole K OK Ehlers Lars H LH

ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR 20170707

<h4>Purpose</h4>Results from the Danish cluster-randomized trial of telehealthcare to 1,225 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the Danish Telecare North Trial, concluded that the telehealthcare solution was unlikely to be cost-effective, by applying international willingness-to-pay threshold values. The purpose of this article was to assess potential sources of variation across subgroups, which could explain overall cost-effectiveness results or be utilized in future eco ...[more]

PMID: 28740411

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Project description:OBJECTIVES:To investigate the cost-effectiveness of a telehealthcare solution in addition to usual care compared with usual care. DESIGN:A 12-month cost-utility analysis conducted alongside a cluster-randomised trial. SETTING:Community-based setting in the geographical area of North Denmark Region in Denmark. PARTICIPANTS:26 municipality districts define randomisation clusters with 13 districts in each arm. 1225 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were enrolled, of which 578 patients were randomised to telehealthcare and 647 to usual care. INTERVENTIONS:In addition to usual care, patients in the intervention group received a set of telehealthcare equipment and were monitored by a municipality-based healthcare team. Patients in the control group received usual care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:Incremental costs per quality-adjusted life-years gained from baseline up to 12 months follow-up. RESULTS:From a healthcare and social sector perspective, the adjusted mean difference in total costs between telehealthcare and usual care was €728 (95% CI -754 to 2211) and the adjusted mean difference in quality-adjusted life-years gained was 0.0132 (95% CI -0.0083 to 0.0346). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was €55 327 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Decision-makers should be willing to pay more than €55 000 to achieve a probability of cost-effectiveness >50%. This conclusion is robust to changes in the definition of hospital contacts and reduced intervention costs. Only in the most optimistic scenario combining the effects of all sensitivity analyses, does the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio fall below the UK thresholds values (€21 068 per quality-adjusted life-year). CONCLUSIONS:Telehealthcare is unlikely to be a cost-effective addition to usual care, if it is offered to all patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and if the willingness-to-pay threshold values from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are applied. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01984840, 14 November 2013.

Project description:BackgroundSeveral feasibility studies show promising results of telehealthcare on health outcomes and health-related quality of life for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and some of these studies show that telehealthcare may even lower healthcare costs. However, the only large-scale trial we have so far - the Whole System Demonstrator Project in England - has raised doubts about these results since it conclude that telehealthcare as a supplement to usual care is not likely to be cost-effective compared with usual care alone.Methods/designThe present study is known as 'TeleCare North' in Denmark. It seeks to address these doubts by implementing a large-scale, pragmatic, cluster-randomized trial with nested economic evaluation. The purpose of the study is to assess the effectiveness and the cost-effectiveness of a telehealth solution for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared to usual practice. General practitioners will be responsible for recruiting eligible participants (1,200 participants are expected) for the trial in the geographical area of the North Denmark Region. Twenty-six municipality districts in the region define the randomization clusters. The primary outcomes are changes in health-related quality of life, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio measured from baseline to follow-up at 12 months. Secondary outcomes are changes in mortality and physiological indicators (diastolic and systolic blood pressure, pulse, oxygen saturation, and weight).DiscussionThere has been a call for large-scale clinical trials with rigorous cost-effectiveness assessments in telehealthcare research. This study is meant to improve the international evidence base for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of telehealthcare to patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by implementing a large-scale pragmatic cluster-randomized clinical trial.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, http://NCT01984840, November 14, 2013.

Dataset Information

Subgroup analysis of telehealthcare for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the cluster-randomized Danish Telecare North Trial.

Publications

Subgroup analysis of telehealthcare for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the cluster-randomized Danish Telecare North Trial.

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