Cost-effectiveness of clean air administered to the breathing zone in allergic asthma.

INTRODUCTION

Airsonett Airshower (AA) is a novel non-pharmaceutical treatment for patients with perennial allergic asthma that uses a laminar airflow directed to the breathing zone of patients during sleep. It has been shown that AA treatment in addition to optimized standard therapy significantly increases asthma-related quality of life among adolescent asthmatics. However, the cost-effectiveness of AA treatment has not yet been assessed. As reimbursement decisions are increasingly guided by results from the cost-effectiveness analysis, such information is valuable for health-care policy-makers.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of adding AA treatment with allergen-free air during night sleep to optimized standard therapy for adolescents with perennial allergic asthma compared with placebo.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A probabilistic Markov model was developed to estimate costs and health outcomes over a 5-year period. Costs and effects are presented from a Swedish health-care perspective (QALYs). The main outcome of interest was cost per QALY gained.

RESULTS

The Airshower strategy resulted in a mean gain of 0.25 QALYs per patient, thus yielding a cost per QALY gained of under euro35 000 as long as the cost of Airshower is below euro8200.

CONCLUSIONS

Adding AA treatment to optimized standard therapy for adolescents with perennial allergic asthma compared with placebo is generating additional QALYs at a reasonable cost. However, further studies taking more detailed resource use and events such as exacerbations into account would be needed to fully evaluate the cost-effectiveness of AA treatment.