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PharmacoEconomics
Published in: PharmacoEconomics 6/2008

01-06-2008 | Original Research Article

Cost-Utility Analysis of Varenicline versus Existing Smoking Cessation Strategies using the BENESCO Simulation Model

Application to a Population of US Adult Smokers

Authors: Mr Paul Howard, Christopher Knight, Annabel Boler, Christine Baker

Published in: PharmacoEconomics | Issue 6/2008

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Abstract

Background

Of 1 346 700 total deaths each year in the US, an estimated 440 100 are smoking related, making it the leading preventable cause of premature death in the US. Despite the health and economic benefits of smoking cessation being well documented, reimbursement coverage for smoking cessation therapies is generally limited in the US and elsewhere.

Objectives

To evaluate the cost effectiveness of varenicline, an α4ß2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist, recently approved to aid smoking cessation.

Methods

A Markov model, the Benefits of Smoking Cessation on Outcomes (BENESCO) model, was developed to simulate the lifetime direct costs and consequences of a hypothetical cohort of US adult smokers who make a one-time attempt to quit smoking. The smoking cessation strategies compared were varenicline, bupropion, nicotine replacement therapy and unaided quitting. The model used the hazard ratios from the Cancer Prevention Study (CPS)-II study for the mortality of smoking-related diseases as a proxy to calculate the relative risks of the incidence and prevalence of these diseases, following previously developed methodology. The costs (year 2005 values) and utilities for the included smoking-related diseases (lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease [COPD], coronary heart disease [CHD], stroke and asthma exacerbations), and the efficacies of the smoking cessation strategies, were sourced from the published literature. Costs and benefits were discounted at 3% pa. Probabilistic and univariate sensitivity analyses were conducted.

Results

Varenicline was found to dominate all other smoking cessation strategies that were investigated for both the 20-year and lifetime timeframe. Furthermore, if 25% of the current population of US smokers made a one-time attempt to quit using varenicline compared with unaided cessation, almost 144 000 smoking-related deaths and over 261 000 cases of asthma exacerbations, COPD, CHD, stroke and lung cancer could be avoided compared with an unaided smoking cessation strategy.

Conclusions

Varenicline, a recently approved therapy for smoking cessation, is likely to be a cost-effective alternative compared with currently available options.
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Metadata
Title
Cost-Utility Analysis of Varenicline versus Existing Smoking Cessation Strategies using the BENESCO Simulation Model
Application to a Population of US Adult Smokers
Authors
Mr Paul Howard
Christopher Knight
Annabel Boler
Christine Baker
Publication date
01-06-2008
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
PharmacoEconomics / Issue 6/2008
Print ISSN: 1170-7690
Electronic ISSN: 1179-2027
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200826060-00004

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