Cost-effectiveness of full-course oral levofloxacin in severe community-acquired pneumonia.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_44CAE0FECC56
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Cost-effectiveness of full-course oral levofloxacin in severe community-acquired pneumonia.
Journal
European Respiratory Journal
Author(s)
Wasserfallen J.B., Erard V., Cometta A., Calandra T., Lamy O.
ISSN
0903-1936
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2004
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
24
Number
4
Pages
644-648
Language
english
Abstract
Oral levofloxacin is as efficient as sequential antibiotic treatment in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The current authors assessed whether oral levofloxacin treatment of patients with severe CAP, followed-up for 30 days, would save money. Over a 12-month period, 129 hospitalised patients with severe non-intensive care unit CAP were randomly assigned to receive either oral levofloxacin or sequential antibiotic treatment. Direct and indirect costs were compared over a 30-day period from several perspectives. CAP resolved in 71 out of 77 oral levofloxacin (92%) and in 34 out of 37 sequential antibiotic treatment patients (92%). Patients' characteristics, treatment duration, hospital length of stay and mortality were similar in both groups. Drug acquisition costs were 1.7-times smaller in oral levofloxacin patients, who were less often transferred to rehabilitation centres, but they used more physicians' visits during follow-up and their total costs were lower. As only a minority of patients was still active, inability to work and, hence, indirect costs were similar in both groups. In this study, oral levofloxacin for severe non-intensive care unit community-acquired pneumonia was equally effective as sequential antibiotic treatment, but did not lead to major costs savings except for drug acquisition costs. External factors linked with patients' characteristics and/or medical practice are likely to play a role and should be addressed.
Keywords
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Community-Acquired Infections, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Ofloxacin, Pneumonia, Bacterial, Prospective Studies, Treatment Outcome
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
14/03/2008 10:20
Last modification date
20/08/2019 13:49
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