Pharmacoeconomic analysis of osteoporosis treatment with risedronate.

Hip fracture is an important and costly problem. Therapy with the bisphosphonate risedronate effectively prevents hip and other fractures among women with established osteoporosis. Risedronate is a first-choice therapy option in the German Guidelines of the Dachverband Osteologie for Osteoporosis according to evidence-based medicine criteria for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, osteoporosis of the elderly (women aged > 75 years) and glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. There are few published economic evaluations of bisphosphonates in Germany. Therefore, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of risedronate utilizing a state transition Markov model of established postmenopausal osteoporosis based on randomized clinical trial data was developed. Uncertainty underlying model parameters and outcomes was dealt with using traditional sensitivity analysis and stochastic sensitivity analysis to produce quasi-95% Cls. We focused on patients aged 70 years, since this population most closely matches the randomized controlled trial and is typical of osteoporosis patients in Germany. The baseline model was a cohort of 1,000 70-year-old women, who received risedronate for 3 years and were followed up for an overall observation period of 10 years, modelling transitions through estimated health states and evaluating outcomes. Over the 3-year treatment period and 10-year observation period, risedronate dominated the current average basic treatment in Germany. In the risedronate group 33 hip fractures were averted and 32 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were gained (discounted values). Risedronate treatment saves costs for German social insurance: the present net value of the associated costs from the perspective of German social insurance is [symbol: see text]10.66 million if risedronate treatment is used versus [symbol: see text]11 million if basic treatment is used. Thus, net savings of [symbol: see text]340,000 for the treatment group per 1,000 treated women were calculated. Furthermore, risedronate treatment is cost effective from the perspective of the statutory health insurance with costs per averted hip fracture in the analyzed population of [symbol: see text]33,856 and cost per QALY gained of [symbol: see text]35,690. Both results demonstrate cost-effectiveness and are far below the accepted threshold level of [symbol: see text]50,000. Based on this analysis, risedronate is a cost-effective treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis within the German health care system, offering benefits for osteoporotic patients and for budget decision-makers.