Oxytocin in Uniject Disposable Auto-Disable Injection System versus Standard Use for the Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal death. Despite strong evidence showing the efficacy of routine oxytocin in preventing PPH, the proportion of women receiving it after delivery is still below 100%. The Uniject injection system prefilled with oxytocin (Uniject) has the potential advantage, due to its ease of use, to increase oxytocin utilization rates. We aimed to assess its cost-effectiveness in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). We used an epidemiological model to estimate: a) the impact of replacing oxytocin in ampoules with Uniject on the incidence of PPH, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs from a health care system perspective, and b) the minimum increment in oxytocin utilization rates required to make Uniject a cost-effective strategy. A consensus panel of LAC experts was convened to quantify the expected increase in oxytocin rates as a consequence of making Uniject available. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. In the base case, the incremental cost of Uniject with respect to oxytocin in ampoules was estimated to be USD 1.00 (2013 US dollars). In the cost-effectiveness analysis, Uniject ranged from being cost-saving (in 8 out of 30 countries) to having an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of USD 8,990 per QALY gained. In most countries these ICERs were below one GDP per capita. The minimum required increment in oxytocin rates to make Uniject a cost-effective strategy ranged from 1.3% in Suriname to 16.2% in Haiti. Switching to Uniject could prevent more than 40,000 PPH events annually in LAC. Uniject was cost-saving or very cost-effective in almost all countries. Even if countries can achieve only small increases in oxytocin rates by incorporating Uniject, this strategy could be considered a highly efficient use of resources. These results were robust in the sensitivity analysis under a wide range of assumptions.