Pharmacoeconomic evaluation of Pan Long Qi Tablets in the treatment of bone fracture

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the economy of Pan Long Qi Tablets compared with Bone-setting Qi Li Tablets in the treatment of fractures. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted to collect medical records of 6,654 fracture patients from more than 20 hospitals in China from July 2021 to September 2023, which were divided into 3,706 cases in the experimental group (Pan Long Qi tablets combined with the conventional regimen) and 2,948 cases in the control group (Bone-setting Qi Li tablets combined with the conventional regimen) according to the different treatment regimens. Based on the perspective of China's health system, propensity score matching was used to eliminate confounding factors, and a decision tree model was constructed to analyze the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of the two treatment regimens for treating fractures. Using 0.5 times the per capita GDP of China in 2023 as the willingness-to-pay threshold, one-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis were used to verify the robustness of the results. Results: A total of 6102 samples met the matching requirements for inclusion in the analysis. After matching, the improvement in Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) after treatment in both groups was 0.144 points more in the test group than in the control group, and the improvement in swelling grading score was 0.287 points more in the test group than in the control group. The results of cost-effectiveness analysis showed that the total cost of the trial group regimen was $40.67 higher than that of the control group regimen, and patients in the 60-day recovery period could obtain 0.00442 QALYs more, with an incremental cost-utility ratio(ICER) of $9,213.30/QALY.Univariate sensitivity analyses showed that the incremental QALYs of Pan Long Qi Tablets and the smallest unit median bid price were the main factors influencing the ICER. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that the probability of panax Pan Long Qi tablets combined with conventional treatment being economical was 70.1% when 0.5 times the per capita GDP of China in 2023 was used as the willingness-to-pay threshold. CONCLUSION: Pan Long Qi Tablets are economical compared to Elderberry Qi Li Tablets in the treatment of fractures.