Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Asthma Interventions
Summary
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a methodological framework employed to assess the economic and health benefits of interventions in relation to their costs. In asthma care, CEA examines interventions ranging from inhaled corticosteroids and biologic agents to novel device-based therapies and telemonitoring programmes. Studies typically integrate clinical outcomes such as exacerbation rates, days of uncontrolled symptoms and hospital admissions with economic endpoints including direct medical costs, indirect costs from lost productivity and health-related quality of life expressed as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). A key feature of CEA in asthma is the consideration of heterogeneous patient trajectories, adherence patterns and disease severity, which influence both costs and health gains. Markov models and probabilistic sensitivity analyses are frequently used to capture long-term outcomes under varying assumptions. By comparing incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) against established willingness-to-pay thresholds, decision makers can prioritise interventions that deliver the best value for money and inform resource allocation across diverse health systems.
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Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Asthma Interventions publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in cost-effectiveness analysis in asthma interventions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA): A systematic approach to compare the costs and health outcomes of different interventions.
Quality-adjusted life year (QALY): A measure that combines length and quality of life into a single index for health outcome assessment.
Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER): The additional cost per additional health unit (often per QALY) gained when comparing two interventions.
Healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU): The consumption of medical services and products, including hospital admissions, medication use and outpatient visits.
Willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold: The maximum amount a health system or society is prepared to spend to obtain one additional unit of health benefit, such as one QALY.
Markov model: A mathematical model that simulates transitions between health states over time to estimate long-term costs and outcomes.
References
- Describing the burden of moderate exacerbations in patients with asthma from the Extended Salford Lung Study (Ext-SLS): a retrospective cohort study. Respiratory Research (2025).
- Trajectories of Controller Therapy Use Before and After Asthma-Related Hospitalization in Children and Adults: Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (2023).
- Cost-Effectiveness of Bronchial Thermoplasty, Omalizumab, and Standard Therapy for Moderate-to-Severe Allergic Asthma. PLOS ONE (2016).
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