To freeze or not to freeze: a cost-effectiveness analysis of wart treatment
- PMID: 17326748
- DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2007.07768.x
To freeze or not to freeze: a cost-effectiveness analysis of wart treatment
Abstract
Background: Several general practitioner (GP)-prescribed and over-the-counter therapies for warts and verrucae are available. However, the cost-effectiveness of these treatments is unknown.
Objectives: To compare the cost-effectiveness of different treatments for cutaneous warts.
Methods: We designed a decision-analytic Markov simulation model based on systematic review evidence to estimate the cost-effectiveness of various treatments. The outcome measures studied are percentage of patients cured, cost of treatment and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for each treatment, compared with no treatment, after 18 weeks.
Results: Duct tape was most cost-effective but published evidence of its effectiveness is sparse. Salicylic acid was the most cost-effective over-the-counter treatment commonly used. Cryotherapy administered by a GP was less cost-effective than GP-prescribed salicylic acid and less cost-effective than cryotherapy administered by a nurse.
Conclusions: Duct tape could be adopted as the primary treatment for cutaneous warts if its effectiveness is verified by further rigorous trials. Nurse-administered cryotherapy is likely to be more cost-effective than GP-administered cryotherapy.
Comment in
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Cost-effectiveness of wart treatment.Br J Dermatol. 2008 Feb;158(2):419-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2007.08327.x. Epub 2007 Nov 28. Br J Dermatol. 2008. PMID: 18047509 No abstract available.
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