Cost-utility of a multicomponent intervention for fibromyalgia versus usual care: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: To perform an economic evaluation on a multicomponent intervention programme for patients with fibromyalgia syndrome compared with usual clinical practice in primary care. Design: A cost-utility analysis was conducted alongside a pragmatic randomised controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT04049006) from a societal perspective, a human capital approach, and a 1-year time horizon. Patients: Patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome from the public health system in south Catalonia, Spain. Methods: Crude and adjusted incremental cost- utility ratios were estimated to compare the treatment strategies based on cost estimations (direct medical costs and productivity losses) and quality-adjusted life years. One-way and 2-way deterministic sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: The final analysed sample comprised 297 individuals, 161 in the intervention group and 136 in the control group. A crude incremental cost-utility ratio of € 1,780.75 and an adjusted ratio of € 851.67 were obtained, indicating that the programme significantly improved patients’ quality of life with a cost-increasing outcome that fell below the cost-effectiveness threshold. The sensitivity analysis confirmed these findings when varying large cost components, and showed dominance when increasing session attendance. Conclusion: The proposed multicomponent intervention programme was cost-effective compared with usual care for fibromyalgia, which supports its addition to standard practice in the regional primary care service.

Keywords

• cost-utility analysis
• fribromyalgia syndrome
• health economic evaluation
• multicomponent intervention
• primary care