Cost-effectiveness analysis of two kinds of bladder cancer urinary diversion: Studer versus Bricker

BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study was to evaluated the cost-effectiveness of two bladder cancer (BCa) urinary diversions: Studer and Bricker. METHODS: The study included 44 patients with Studer and 40 patients with Bricker. Collected and analyzed the patient’s basic characteristics, health care costs, and prognosis survival. The quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) were calculated and verified by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 (EORTC QLQ-C30, Version 3, Chinese version). Cost-effectiveness depends on the incremental cost per QALY. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was determined using the cost/QALY. RESULTS: We found the average total cost of the Studer group was $7,173.7±1,390.8, and the Bricker group was $6,545.2±1,458.4. There were significant differences in hospitalization time, total hospitalization expenses, bed cost, comprehensive medical service charge and drugs cost (all P<0.05). The hospitalization time, total hospitalization expenses, bed cost, comprehensive medical service charge, surgical treatment cost and drugs cost in Studer group were higher than those in Bricker group, while there was no significant difference in postoperative complications between the two groups (P=0.858). The ICER of Studer group and Bricker group were $8,535.6±2,027.6/QALY and $11,158.2±2,944.9/QALY, respectively. The ICER of Studer group over Bricker group was $2,514.0/QALY. CONCLUSIONS: We found the Studer group had higher hospitalization time, total hospitalization expenses, bed cost, comprehensive medical service charge, surgical treatment cost, and drugs cost than the Bricker group, but the Studer group had a higher ICER than the Bricker group.