OBJECTIVE: To determine whether zinc with oral rehydration solution (ORS) is more cost effective than ORS alone in the treatment of acute diarrhea. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Cost-effectiveness analysis among patients consulting the emergency room of a government institution. METHOD: Cost of treatment and outcome of participants of a randomized trial of zinc+ORS vs. ORS alone for acute diarrhea were investigated. Included were subjects 2-59 months with diarrhea <7 days and no dehydration. The direct medical, nonmedical and indirect costs were obtained, using the societal perspective. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated. RESULTS:Sixty patients were given zinc+ORS and 57 were given ORS alone. Mean duration of diarrhea was 17 hours shorter and mean total cost of treatment was 5% cheaper in the zinc than ORS group . The ICER showed that with use of zinc, the society saves $ 2.4 per day of diarrhea <4 days and spends $ 0.03 per case of diarrhea averted <4 days from consult, although the confidence interval included the null value of zero. CONCLUSION: Use of zinc with ORS reduced the total cost and duration of acute diarrhea. The ICER suggests cost effectiveness of zinc supplementation but there is a need to further assess the role of zinc supplementation in a larger population.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether zinc with oral rehydration solution (ORS) is more cost effective than ORS alone in the treatment of acute diarrhea. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Cost-effectiveness analysis among patients consulting the emergency room of a government institution. METHOD: Cost of treatment and outcome of participants of a randomized trial of zinc+ORS vs. ORS alone for acute diarrhea were investigated. Included were subjects 2-59 months with diarrhea <7 days and no dehydration. The direct medical, nonmedical and indirect costs were obtained, using the societal perspective. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated. RESULTS: Sixty patients were given zinc+ORS and 57 were given ORS alone. Mean duration of diarrhea was 17 hours shorter and mean total cost of treatment was 5% cheaper in the zinc than ORS group . The ICER showed that with use of zinc, the society saves $ 2.4 per day of diarrhea <4 days and spends $ 0.03 per case of diarrhea averted <4 days from consult, although the confidence interval included the null value of zero. CONCLUSION: Use of zinc with ORS reduced the total cost and duration of acute diarrhea. The ICER suggests cost effectiveness of zinc supplementation but there is a need to further assess the role of zinc supplementation in a larger population.
Authors: Samuel D Shillcutt; Amnesty E LeFevre; Christa L Fischer Walker; Robert E Black; Sarmila Mazumder Journal: Implement Sci Date: 2014-11-19 Impact factor: 7.327
Authors: Samuel D Shillcutt; Amnesty E LeFevre; Christa L Fischer-Walker; Sunita Taneja; Robert E Black; Sarmila Mazumder Journal: Cost Eff Resour Alloc Date: 2017-06-08