Evidence of cost effectiveness for the proposed interventions
| Intervention | Comparator | Perspective | Duration | Discounting | Effectiveness | C1–C2 | E1–E2 | ICER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1, total costs with intervention; C2, total costs with comparator; E1, effects with intervention; E2, effects with comparator; ICER, incremental cost effectiveness ratio, base case scenario; QALYs, quality adjusted life years. | ||||||||
| Group physiotherapy | Home exercise | Institutional/payer | 1 year | No | Patients global health (VAS) cm | $409–0 | 1.7–0.3 | 292 |
| Spa exercise therapy | Conventional treatment | Institutional/payer | 40 weeks | No | QALYs | €3129–1754 | – | 12869 |
| Education programme | Conventional treatment | Societal | 1 year | No | Work days lost | Saving | ||
| Coxib (patients with OA/RA) | Naproxen | 3rd party payer | Life | 3% | QALYs | $16620–5037 | – | 395324 |
| Coxib (patients with OA/RA) (previous GI haemorrhage) | Naproxen | 3rd party payer | Life | 5% | QALYs | $19015–14294 | – | 55803 |
| NSAIDs+misoprostol (all patients with OA) | NSAIDs | Canadian Health services | 3 months | No | GI events averted | $32396–25622 | 96–86 | 684 |
| NSAIDs+misoprostol (patients with OA aged ⩾65 years) | NSAIDs | Canadian Health services | 3 months | No | GI events averted | $28971–25622 | 91–86 | 644 |
| Infliximab | Conventional treatment | Societal | 2 years | 3% | QALYs | £25126–17240 | 0.17–0 | 6624 |