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. 2016 Dec 12;11(12):e0167433.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167433. eCollection 2016.

Cost Evaluation of Dried Blood Spot Home Sampling as Compared to Conventional Sampling for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Children

Lisa C Martial  1   2 , Rob E Aarnoutse  1   2 , Michiel F Schreuder  3 , Stefanie S Henriet  4 , Roger J M Brüggemann  1   2 , Manuela A Joore  5
Affiliations

Cost Evaluation of Dried Blood Spot Home Sampling as Compared to Conventional Sampling for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Children

Lisa C Martial et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling for the purpose of therapeutic drug monitoring can be an attractive alternative for conventional blood sampling, especially in children. This study aimed to compare all costs involved in conventional sampling versus DBS home sampling in two pediatric populations: renal transplant patients and hemato-oncology patients. Total costs were computed from a societal perspective by adding up healthcare cost, patient related costs and costs related to loss of productivity of the caregiver. Switching to DBS home sampling was associated with a cost reduction of 43% for hemato-oncology patients (€277 to €158) and 61% for nephrology patients (€259 to €102) from a societal perspective (total costs) per blood draw. From a healthcare perspective, costs reduced with 7% for hemato-oncology patients and with 21% for nephrology patients. Total savings depend on the number of hospital visits that can be avoided by using home sampling instead of conventional sampling.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Pie chart of costs in euro’s (€) ordered by perspective.
DBS dried blood spot.
Fig 2
Fig 2. One-way sensitivity analysis of the impact of the variation of different items on total societal cost as compared to the base-case.
DBS dried blood spot.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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