Abstract
Background: Decisions based on cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) using equal discount rates for health and cost outcomes are consistent with using a constant cost-effectiveness threshold over time. We sought to analyze trends in author-reported cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) thresholds from CEAs published for the US setting over 24 y to retrospectively assess whether the recommended equal discount rates for costs and health were consistent with trends in the CEA literature. Methods: We used the Tufts CEA Registry to assess whether author-reported cost-effectiveness thresholds changed in CEAs published for the US setting between 1995 and 2018 and back-calculated the implied discount rate for health based on these trends for inflation-adjusted cost-effectiveness thresholds and an annual discount rate for costs of 3%.
Reference
Ankur Pandya, Mike Paulden, Jinyi Zhu, Tara A. Lavelle, and James K. Hammitt, “Trends in Author-Reported Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds in the United States from 1995 to 2018: Implications for Discount Rates”, Medical Decision Making, vol. 42, n. 7, October 2022, pp. 885–892.
Published in
Medical Decision Making, vol. 42, n. 7, October 2022, pp. 885–892