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Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

Medical costs and quality-adjusted life years associated with smoking: a systematic review

Authors: Shari P. Feirman, Allison M. Glasser, Lyubov Teplitskaya, David R. Holtgrave, David B. Abrams, Raymond S. Niaura, Andrea C. Villanti

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2016

Abstract

Background

Estimated medical costs (“T”) and QALYs (“Q”) associated with smoking are frequently used in cost-utility analyses of tobacco control interventions. The goal of this study was to understand how researchers have addressed the methodological challenges involved in estimating these parameters.

Methods

Data were collected as part of a systematic review of tobacco modeling studies. We searched five electronic databases on July 1, 2013 with no date restrictions and synthesized studies qualitatively. Studies were eligible for the current analysis if they were U.S.-based, provided an estimate for Q, and used a societal perspective and lifetime analytic horizon to estimate T. We identified common methods and frequently cited sources used to obtain these estimates.

Results

Across all 18 studies included in this review, 50 % cited a 1992 source to estimate the medical costs associated with smoking and 56 % cited a 1996 study to derive the estimate for QALYs saved by quitting or preventing smoking. Approaches for estimating T varied dramatically among the studies included in this review. T was valued as a positive number, negative number and $0; five studies did not include estimates for T in their analyses. The most commonly cited source for Q based its estimate on the Health Utilities Index (HUI). Several papers also cited sources that based their estimates for Q on the Quality of Well-Being Scale and the EuroQol five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D).

Conclusions

Current estimates of the lifetime medical care costs and the QALYs associated with smoking are dated and do not reflect the latest evidence on the health effects of smoking, nor the current costs and benefits of smoking cessation and prevention. Given these limitations, we recommend that researchers conducting economic evaluations of tobacco control interventions perform extensive sensitivity analyses around these parameter estimates.

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Title: Medical costs and quality-adjusted life years associated with smoking: a systematic review
Authors: Shari P. Feirman
Allison M. Glasser
Lyubov Teplitskaya
David R. Holtgrave
David B. Abrams
Raymond S. Niaura
Andrea C. Villanti
Publication date: 01-12-2016
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3319-z

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Medical costs and quality-adjusted life years associated with smoking: a systematic review

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

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