Final report on the cost of treating arthritic disease: comparison between salicylates and nonsalicylate nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

The cost of antacids or other drugs and hospital admission for the treatment of gastrointestinal side effects must be factored into any comparison between costs of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and salicylate drugs in the treatment of arthritis. Records and interviews of 534 patients treated for arthritis, 310 treated with nonsalicylate nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 224 treated with salicylates, were evaluated for this comparison. Costs of the basic drug, medical treatment for gastrointestinal side effects, and hospitalization for such treatment were added, averaged for 30-day per patient treatment periods, and compared. When hospital costs were excluded, costs per patient per month of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapy were comparable to costs of nonacetylated salicylate therapy, and both sums were more than twice the cost of therapy with an aspirin compound. When hospital costs were included, average non-acetylated salicylate costs per patient per month were far higher than those for treatment with either aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These findings suggest the value of randomized multicenter studies to establish the cost-effectiveness nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapy v salicylate therapy in the treatment of arthritis.