(Varying efficacy of helicobacter pylori eradication regimens: cost effectiveness study using a decision analysis model)
The value of eradicating helicobacter pylori in duodenal ulcer disease is well established but small differences in the efficacy of antibiotic regimens can have a big influence on the comparative cost effectiveness of eradication strategies.
In a commentary, Delany and Hobbs point out that prescribing for dyspepsia is now the largest single area of cost for primary care, £500 million per year in the United Kingdom in 1996. Although this covers non-ulcer dyspepsia as well as peptic ulcer disease, the size of the bill underlines the rationale for making cost-effectiveness part of the eradication strategy for H pylori.
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Prof Richard Logan, Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH
t: +44 (0)115 970 9315 f: +44 (0)115 970 9316 e-mail : richard.logan@nottingham.ac.uk