Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24070414›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2013

Health economic evaluation of vaccination strategies for the prevention of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in Germany.

Bernhard Ultsch, Felix Weidemann, Thomas Reinhold, Anette Siedler, Gérard Krause, Ole Wichmann

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Vaccination for quality of life: herpes-zoster vaccines.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2021
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Observational
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. The burden of disease of Herpes Zoster in Tuscany.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2015
    Article
  18. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Bernhard UltschImmunisation Unit, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany. UltschB@rki.de.
Felix Weidemann
Thomas Reinhold
Anette Siedler
Gérard Krause
Ole Wichmann
Robert Koch Institute · DECharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DEHelmholtz Centre for Infection Research · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHerpes zoster (HZ) is a self-limiting painful skin rash affecting mostly individuals from 50 years of age. The main complication is postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a long-lasting pain after rash has resolved. A HZ-vaccine has recently been licensed in Europe for individuals older than 50 years. To support an informed decision-making for a potential vaccination recommendation, we conducted a health economic evaluation to identify the most cost-effective vaccination strategy.

methodsWe developed a static Markov-cohort model, which compared a vaccine-scenario with no vaccination. The cohort entering the model was 50 years of age, vaccinated at age 60, and stayed over life-time in the model. Transition probabilities were based on HZ/PHN-epidemiology and demographic data from Germany, as well as vaccine efficacy (VE) data from clinical trials. Costs for vaccination and HZ/PHN-treatment (in Euros; 2010), as well as outcomes were discounted equally with 3% p.a. We accounted results from both, payer and societal perspective. We calculated benefit-cost-ratio (BCR), number-needed-to-vaccinate (NNV), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for costs per HZ-case avoided, per PHN-case avoided, and per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. Different target age-groups were compared to identify the most cost-effective vaccination strategy. Base-case-analysis as well as structural, descriptive-, and probabilistic-sensitivity-analyses (DSA, PSA) were performed.

resultsWhen vaccinating 20% of a cohort of 1 million 50 year old individuals at the age of 60 years, approximately 20,000 HZ-cases will be avoided over life-time. The NNV to avoid one HZ (PHN)-case was 10 (144). However, with a BCR of 0.34 this vaccination-strategy did not save costs. The base-case-analysis yielded an ICER of 1,419 (20,809) Euros per avoided HZ (PHN)-case and 28,146 Euros per QALY gained. Vaccination at the age of 60 was identified in most (sensitivity) analyses to be the most cost-effective vaccination strategy. In DSA, vaccine price and VE were shown to be the most critical input-data.

conclusionsAccording to our evaluation, HZ-vaccination is expected to avoid HZ/PHN-cases and gain QALYs to higher costs. However, the vaccine price had the highest impact on the ICERs. Among different scenarios, targeting individuals aged 60 years seems to represent the most cost-effective vaccination-strategy.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overCost-Benefit AnalysisFemaleGermanyHealth Care CostsHerpes ZosterHerpes Zoster VaccineHumansMaleMarkov ChainsMiddle AgedModels, EconomicNeuralgia, PostherpeticQuality-Adjusted Life YearsHerpes Zoster Vaccine

Identifiers

PMID24070414
PMCPMC3849436
OpenAlexW2151572628

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.