Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2025
Cost-Utility Analysis and Value-Based Pricing of Digital Therapeutics for Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Chronic Respiratory Disease: Economic Evaluation Based on a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Comparing Pulmonary Telerehabilitation and Center-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Effectiveness and Adherence in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- TikTok, RedNote, and Bilibili as sources of medical information on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-platform content analysis.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Application of emerging information technologies in the prevention and control of chronic diseases.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Understanding Economic Decision-Making in Digital Therapeutics Development: Qualitative Approach.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPulmonary rehabilitation, a nonpharmacological treatment for chronic respiratory diseases, is underused due to limited access and time constraints. In a randomized controlled trial, the digital therapeutics (DTx) demonstrated superior efficacy to standard treatment. However, evidence on the cost-effectiveness of DTx and appropriate pricing strategies remains limited.
objectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of DTx through cost-utility analysis and to explore a value-based price for its implementation.
methodsAn economic evaluation was based on an 8-week randomized controlled trial involving 84 participants assigned to either the DTx group or standard treatment group. Costs were estimated from a health care system perspective. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were estimated by using mapping algorithms from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test to EQ-5D-3L. Cost-utility analysis was conducted to estimate the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR), which represents the additional cost per QALY gained. The willingness-to-pay threshold was set at US $19,410 per QALY. Sensitivity analyses included probabilistic sensitivity analysis, deterministic sensitivity analysis, and subgroup and scenario analyses, including a 1-year Markov model.
resultsCompared with standard treatment, DTx increased QALY by 0.0096 at an additional cost of US $85.33, resulting in an ICUR of US $8890 per QALY gained. The maximum value-based price for an 8-week DTx program was estimated at US $192. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, DTx had a 60.2% probability of being cost-effective at the set willingness-to-pay threshold, with 88.6% of iterations in the northeast quadrant falling below the threshold. The deterministic sensitivity analysis showed that ICURs remained below the willingness-to-pay threshold under all tested assumptions, with the maximum ICUR (US $15,644/QALY) also staying below the threshold. Subgroup analysis confirmed cost-effectiveness in both older adults (≥65 y) and non-older adults (<65 y) populations, and in both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and interstitial lung disease groups. The 1-year Markov model estimated an ICUR of US $4398 per QALY.
conclusionsDTx for pulmonary rehabilitation demonstrated the cost-effectiveness compared with standard treatment. These findings support its potential for improving outcomes in patients with chronic respiratory disease and provide a pricing framework to facilitate its integration into health care systems.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.