To freeze or not to freeze: a cost-effectiveness analysis of wart treatment

Keogh-Brown, MR, Fordham, RJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5520-6255, Thomas, KS, Bachmann, MO ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1770-3506, Holland, RC, Avery, AJ, Armstrong, SJ, Chalmers, JR, Howe, AC, Rodgers, S, Williams, HC and Harvey, IM (2007) To freeze or not to freeze: a cost-effectiveness analysis of wart treatment. British Journal of Dermatology, 156 (4). 687–692. ISSN 1365-2133

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Abstract

Background: Several general practitioner (GP)-prescribed and over-the-counter therapies for warts and verrucae are available. However, the cost-effectiveness of these treatments is unknown. Objectives: To compare the cost-effectiveness of different treatments for cutaneous warts. Methods: We designed a decision-analytic Markov simulation model based on systematic review evidence to estimate the cost-effectiveness of various treatments. The outcome measures studied are percentage of patients cured, cost of treatment and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for each treatment, compared with no treatment, after 18 weeks. Results: Duct tape was most cost-effective but published evidence of its effectiveness is sparse. Salicylic acid was the most cost-effective over-the-counter treatment commonly used. Cryotherapy administered by a GP was less cost-effective than GP-prescribed salicylic acid and less cost-effective than cryotherapy administered by a nurse. Conclusions: Duct tape could be adopted as the primary treatment for cutaneous warts if its effectiveness is verified by further rigorous trials. Nurse-administered cryotherapy is likely to be more cost-effective than GP-administered cryotherapy.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	cryotherapy,decision analysis,markov model,salicylic acid
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2010 11:11
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2022 01:24
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/14284
DOI:	10.1111/j.1365-2133.2007.07768.x

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