Economic evaluation of pharmacogenomic-guided warfarin treatment for elderly Croatian atrial fibrillation patients with ischemic stroke

Abstract

Background & methods: Economic evaluation in genomic medicine is an emerging discipline to assess the cost–effectiveness of genome-guided treatment. Here, we developed a pharmaco-economic model to assess whether pharmacogenomic (PGx)-guided warfarin treatment of elderly ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation in Croatia is cost effective compared with non-PGx therapy. The time horizon of the model was set at 1 year. Results: Our primary analysis indicates that 97.07% (95% CI: 94.08–99.34%) of patients belonging to the PGx-guided group have not had any major complications, compared with the control group (89.12%; 95% CI: 84.00–93.87%, p < 0.05). The total cost per patient was estimated at €538.7 (95% CI: €526.3–551.2) for the PGx-guided group versus €219.7 (95% CI: €137.9–304.2) for the control group. In terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained, total QALYs was estimated at 0.954 (95% CI: 0.943–0.964) and 0.944 (95% CI: 0.931–0.956) for the PGx-guided and the control groups, respectively. The true difference in QALYs was estimated at 0.01 (95% CI: 0.005–0.015) in favor of the PGx-guided group. The incremental cost–effectiveness ratio of the PGx-guided versus the control groups was estimated at €31,225/QALY. Conclusion: Overall, our data indicate that PGx-guided warfarin treatment may represent a cost-effective therapy option for the management of elderly patients with atrial fibrillation who developed ischemic stroke in Croatia. Original submitted 4 June 2014; Revision submitted 12 November 2014