Cost-effectiveness of dabigatran compared with warfarin for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and prior stroke or transient ischemic attack. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The cost-effectiveness of dabigatran for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and prior stroke or transient ischemic attack has not been directly assessed. METHODS: A Markov decision model was constructed using data from the Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Therapy (RE-LY) trial, other trials of warfarin therapy for atrial fibrillation, and the published cost of dabigatran. We compared the cost and quality-adjusted life expectancy associated with 150 mg dabigatran twice daily versus warfarin therapy targeted to an international normalized ratio of 2 to 3. The target population was a cohort of patients aged ≥70 years with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, and no contraindication to anticoagulation. RESULTS: In the base case, dabigatran was associated with 4.27 quality-adjusted life-years compared with 3.91 quality-adjusted life-years with warfarin. Dabigatran provided 0.36 additional quality-adjusted life-years at a cost of $9000, yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $25,000. In sensitivity analyses, the cost-effectiveness of dabigatran was inversely related to the quality of international normalized ratio control achieved with warfarin therapy. In Monte Carlo analysis, dabigatran was cost-effective in 57% of simulations using a threshold of $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year and 78% of simulations using a threshold of $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year. CONCLUSIONS: Dabigatran appears to be cost-effective relative to warfarin for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and prior stroke or transient ischemic attack. Our analysis is limited by its reliance on data from a substudy of a single randomized trial, and our results may not apply in settings with uncommonly good international normalized ratio control using warfarin.

publication date

  • February 3, 2012

Research

keywords

  • Anticoagulants
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Benzimidazoles
  • Ischemic Attack, Transient
  • Stroke
  • Warfarin
  • beta-Alanine

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84857656349

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1161/STROKEAHA.111.641027

PubMed ID

  • 22308255

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 43

issue

  • 3