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. 2024 Jul;54(7):2733-2741.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-023-05941-8. Epub 2023 May 4.

Economic Evaluation of anti-epileptic Medicines for Autistic Children with Epilepsy

Michela Tinelli M  1 , Aine Roddy  2   3 , Martin Knapp  2 , Celso Arango  4 , Maria Andreina Mendez  4 , James Cusack  5 , Declan Murphy  6 , Roberto Canitano  7 , Bethany Oakley  6 , Vinciane Quoidbach  8
Affiliations

Economic Evaluation of anti-epileptic Medicines for Autistic Children with Epilepsy

Michela Tinelli M et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

We examine the cost-effectiveness of treating epilepsy with anti-epileptic medicines in autistic children, looking at impacts on healthcare providers (in England, Ireland, Italy and Spain) and children's families (in Ireland). We find carbamazepine to be the most cost-effective drug to try first in children with newly diagnosed focal seizures. For England and Spain, oxcarbazepine is the most cost-effective treatment when taken as additional treatment for those children whose response to monotherapy is suboptimal. In Ireland and Italy, gabapentin is the most cost-effective option. Our additional scenario analysis presents the aggregate cost to families with autistic children who are being treated for epilepsy: this cost is considerably higher than healthcare provider expenditure.

Keywords: Autism; Children; Cost-effectiveness; Epilepsy; Family impacts; Healthcare expenditure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Dr. Arango has been a consultant to or has received honoraria or grants from Acadia, Angelini, Biogen, Boehringer, Gedeon Richter, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, Medscape, Minerva, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche, Sage, Servier, Shire, Schering Plough, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Sunovion and Takeda. Prof Murphy has been a consultant to or has received honoraria or grants from Servier, Roche, Clinical Research Associates, and Jaguar Theraputics. He has also received funding from the European Union H2020 Program under the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (grant agreement No 777394, Project AIMS-2-TRIALS).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Impact on healthcare providers: Decision-analytic model of treatment with different antiepileptic medicines. (adapted from NICE, 2021) Note AE = adverse event.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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