The cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation support delivered by mobile phone text messaging: Txt2stop

Abstract Background: Smoking in one of the most serious public health problems. It is well known that it constitutes a major risk factor for chronic diseases and the leading cause of preventable death worldwide.Due to high prevalence of smokers, new cost-effective strategies seeking to increase smoking cessation rates are needed. Methods:We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis comparing two treatments: health advice provided by general practitioners and nurses in primary care, and health advice reinforced by sending motivational text messages to patients’ mobile phones. A Markov model was used in which patients transitioned between three mutually exclusive health states (smoker, former smoker and dead) after 6-month cycles. We calculated the cost-effectiveness ratio associated with the sending of motivational messages throughout a patient’s life. Health care and society perspectives (separately) was adopted. Costs taken into account were direct health care costs and direct health care cost and costsfor lost productivity, respectively.Additionally, deterministic sensitivity analysis was performed modifying the probability of smoking cessation with each option. Results:Sending of text messages as a tool to support health advice was found to be cost-effective as it was associated with increases in costs of €7.4 and €1,327 per QALY gained for men and women respectively from a healthcare perspective, significantly far from the published cost-effectiveness threshold. From a societal perspective, the combined programmed was dominant. Conclusions: Sending text messages is a cost-effective approach. These findings support the implantation of the combined program across primary care health centres.

Download Full-text

Cost-Effectiveness of Pharmacological Interventions for Smoking Cessation: A Literature Review and a Decision Analytic Analysis

Medical Decision Making ◽

10.1177/027298902237708 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 22 (1_suppl) ◽

pp. 26-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 73

Author(s):

Fujian Song ◽

James Raftery ◽

Paul Aveyard ◽

Chris Hyde ◽

Pelham Barton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Decision Analytic Model ◽

Relative Cost ◽

Pharmacological Interventions ◽

Relative Cost Effectiveness ◽

Life Years ◽

The Uk ◽

The Cost

To evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and bupropion SR for smoking cessation, the authors reviewed published studies and developed a decision analytic model from the UK National Health Services perspective. Irrespective of the methods or assumptions involved, the results of published studies consistently indicated that NRT for smoking cessation is cost-effective. No published studies have evaluated the relative cost-effectiveness of bupropion SR for smoking cessation. The results of the decision analyses indicated that, as compared with advice or counseling alone, the incremental cost per life-years saved is about $1,441~$3,455 for NRT, $920~$2,150 for bupropion SR, and $1,282~$2,836 for NRT plus bupropion SR. The cost-effectiveness of adding NRT and bupropion SR to advice or counseling for smoking cessation is better than many other accepted health care interventions.

Download Full-text

Cost-Effectiveness of Cardiovascular Prevention Programs in Spain

International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care ◽

10.1017/s0266462300012289 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 320-330 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Pedro Plans-rubió

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Drug Treatment ◽

Mild Hypertension ◽

Severe Hypertension ◽

Cardiovascular Prevention ◽

Dietary Treatment ◽

Prevention Programs ◽

Ranking List ◽

The Cost

AbstractIndividual programs for prevention of cardiovascular disease include dietary and drug treatment of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension treatment, and smoking cessation therapies. In this study, the cost-effectiveness of available cardiovascular prevention programs was assessed in Spain in terms of net cost per life-year gained (LYG). Cost-effectiveness ratios ranged from US $2,600 to $80,000 per LYG in men and from $4,500 to $230,000 per LYG in women. In men aged 40–59 years, the ranking of increasing cost-effectiveness was: smoking cessation ($2,608–3,738 per LYG); treatment of moderate and severe hypertension ($8,564–38,678 per LYG); treatment of mild hypertension ($11,906–59,840 per LYG); dietary treatment ($16,143–20,158 per LYG); and drug treatment of hypercholesterolemia ($33,850–81,010 per LYG). In women, the ranking list was: smoking cessation ($4,482–5,756 per LYG), treatment of moderate and severe hypertension ($9,585–57,983 per LYG), treatment of mild hypertension ($15,248–86,075 per LYG), dietary treatment ($57,175–62,154 per LYG); and drug treatment of hypercholesterolemia ($104,100–259,150 per LYG).

Download Full-text