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Article

Electroacupuncture with Usual Care for Patients with Non-Acute Pain after Back Surgery: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Alongside a Randomized Controlled Trial

1
Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research and Economic Evaluation in Korean Medicine, Pusan National University and School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea
2
Clinical Medicine Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 34054, Korea
3
Food Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
4
Guideline Center for Korean Medicine, National Institute for Korean Medicine Development, Seoul 04554, Korea
5
School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 5033; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125033
Received: 20 May 2020 / Revised: 6 June 2020 / Accepted: 16 June 2020 / Published: 19 June 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Public Policy and Health Economics)
Electroacupuncture (EA) is used to treat pain after back surgery. Although this treatment is covered by national health insurance in Korea, evidence supporting its cost-effectiveness and contribution to the sustainability of the national health care system has yet to be published. Therefore, an economic evaluation, alongside a clinical trial, was conducted to estimate the cost-effectiveness of EA and usual care (UC) versus UC alone to treat non-acute low back pain (LBP). In total, 108 patients were recruited and randomly assigned to treatment groups; 106 were included in the final cost utility analysis. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of EA plus UC was estimated as 7,048,602 Korean Rate Won (KRW) per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) from the societal perspective (SP). If the national threshold was KRW 30 million per QALY, the cost-effectiveness probability of EA plus UC was an estimated 85.9%; and, if the national threshold was over KRW 42,496,372 per QALY, the cost-effectiveness probability would be over 95% percent statistical significance. Based on these results, EA plus UC combination therapy for patients with non-acute LBP may be cost-effective from a societal perspective in Korea. View Full-Text
Keywords: non-acute low back pain; failed back surgery; electroacupuncture; economic evaluation; costs; quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) non-acute low back pain; failed back surgery; electroacupuncture; economic evaluation; costs; quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)
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MDPI and ACS Style

Kim, N.; Shin, K.-M.; Seo, E.-S.; Park, M.; Lee, H.-Y. Electroacupuncture with Usual Care for Patients with Non-Acute Pain after Back Surgery: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Alongside a Randomized Controlled Trial. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5033. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125033

AMA Style

Kim N, Shin K-M, Seo E-S, Park M, Lee H-Y. Electroacupuncture with Usual Care for Patients with Non-Acute Pain after Back Surgery: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Alongside a Randomized Controlled Trial. Sustainability. 2020; 12(12):5033. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125033

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kim, NamKwen, Kyung-Min Shin, Eun-Sung Seo, Minjung Park, and Hye-Yoon Lee. 2020. "Electroacupuncture with Usual Care for Patients with Non-Acute Pain after Back Surgery: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Alongside a Randomized Controlled Trial" Sustainability 12, no. 12: 5033. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125033

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