Economic Evaluation of a Hospital Unit for Older Patients with Delirium and Dementia

A cost-effectiveness analysis from a randomized controlled trial involving 600 older patients with cognitive impairment admitted for acute medical care. The study compares health and social care costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) between a specialist Medical and Mental Health Unit and standard care over a 3-month follow-up period. Data includes total adjusted costs, QALY differences, and confidence intervals for 599 participants.

Use Cases

• Compare total adjusted health and social care costs between the MMHU and standard care groups to assess intervention cost impact.
• Analyze the difference in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained to evaluate the intervention's effect on patient health outcomes.
• Calculate the probability of cost-effectiveness at a £20,000 per QALY threshold using the provided cost and QALY data.
• Employ multiple imputation techniques to handle the 55% missing QALY data and compare results with complete-case sample analyses.

Strengths

• Data originates from a randomized controlled trial with 600 enrolled participants, providing a robust experimental design.
• Economic evaluation includes detailed cost and QALY data for 599 out of 600 participants, ensuring high data completeness for primary metrics.
• Analysis employs both multiple imputation and complete-case methods to address the 55% missing QALY data, enhancing statistical reliability.

Limitations

• A significant portion (55%) of the QALY outcome data is missing, requiring imputation and potentially introducing bias.
• The follow-up period is limited to 3 months, which may not capture long-term cost-effectiveness or health outcomes.
• The study sample of 600 older patients from a specific trial may limit generalizability to other healthcare settings or patient populations.

Provenance

Source

Dryad, authored by Lukasz Tanajewski.

Collection Method

Data collected as part of the TEAM randomised controlled trial evaluating a specialist hospital unit.

Time Range

Trial follow-up period of 3 months.

Freshness

Data last updated on 2020-06-24.

Geography

General hospitals, specific location not stated.