Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40624582›Full record

ArticleCost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E2025

Cost-effectiveness of dabigatran for thromboembolic events prevention in atrial fibrillation patients in Chile.

Tomás Abbot, Nicolás Armijo, Luis Rojas Orellana, Andrés Giglio Jiménez, Carlos Balmaceda, Manuel Espinoza

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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.

Tomás AbbotCentro de Investigación Clínica (CICUC), School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Nicolás ArmijoCentro de Investigación Clínica (CICUC), School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6000-0219
Luis Rojas OrellanaDepartamento Medicina Interna, Facultad de Medicina, Programa de Farmacología y Toxicología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Católica de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Andrés Giglio JiménezPrograma de Medicina Intensiva, Centro de Paciente Crítico, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago de Chile, Clínica Las Condes, Santiago, Chile.
Carlos BalmacedaUniversita' Bocconi, Milan, Italy.
Manuel EspinozaSchool of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 1/F Patrick Manson Building, 7 Sassoon Rd, Pokfulam, Hong Kong (SAR), China. mesp@hku.hk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9564-9512

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in adults, associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and economic burden due to thromboembolic events. In Chile, acenocoumarol is the most widely used anticoagulant, while access to direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) such as dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban remains limited for AF patients. Among DOACs, dabigatran is the only one with an approved specific reversal agent (idarucizumab) available in the Chilean public system. Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of these alternatives is critical for informing resource allocation.

aimsTo evaluate the cost-effectiveness of dabigatran compared to acenocoumarol, rivaroxaban and apixaban, for thromboembolic events prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, from the Chilean public health payer perspective.

methodsA Markov cohort model was used to represent the natural history of AF in terms of ischemic and hemorrhagic complications. Direct costs were obtained from local official sources and converted to US dollars (1 USD = 710.9 CLP at 2022). Data about major events and utilities were obtained from the literature. We applied an undifferentiated discount rate of 3% for costs and outcomes over a lifetime time horizon. Uncertainty was characterized through deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis. We also examined the use of idarucizumab and prothrombin-complexes-concentrate (PCC) as reversal agents in an emergency setting as an additional scenario-analysis.

resultsDabigatran was the most (cost-)effective among all alternatives (8.53 QALYs). Considering the Chilean cost-effectiveness threshold of USD 17,200 (1 GDP per capita), dabigatran was cost-effective (USD 11,042 per QALY gained), while both rivaroxaban and apixaban were dominated by dabigatran. Regarding the second-order uncertainty, at the suggested threshold, dabigatran exhibit the highest probability of being cost-effective (approximately 60%). In the reversal agent scenario, dabigatran plus idarucizumab was also found to be cost-effective in the Chilean context.

conclusionDabigatran is cost-effective and dominates both rivaroxaban and apixaban at current publicly available prices in Chile. In addition, we expect dabigatran-idarucizumab is also expected to be cost-effective for Chilean health system when is compared against acenocoumarol-PCC as reversal agents.

Indexed as

Atrial fibrillationCost-effectivenessDabigatranThromboembolic events

Identifiers

PMID40624582
PMCPMC12235837

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.