Long-acting medications for the hyperkinetic disorders. A note on cost-effectiveness.

New long-acting medications for attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have become available, which combine certain advantages over conventional short-acting drugs with higher acquisition costs. Choices between these drugs should thus be driven by their clinical profiles and by an acceptable balance of increased costs and additional benefits. Accordingly, the notion of relative cost-effectiveness should be central to recommendations about the use of these drugs in practice. A recent technology assessment on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) did not identify differences between compounds in terms of clinical efficacy and described drug cost as the major driver of cost-effectiveness. The underlying economic model was restricted to a cost-utility analysis that used only a fraction of the available clinical evidence base and did not address the distinction between efficacy and effectiveness. Cost-effectiveness evaluations including the potential impact of improved treatment compliance indicate a relatively more attractive cost-effectiveness of long-acting medications than suggested by the NICE assessment. These evaluations provide health economic support to treatment recommendations recently published by the European Network for Hyperkinetic Disorders. Limitations of currently available economic evaluations include their short time horizon, and future research should assess treatment effects on long-term sequelae associated with ADHD.