1. Cost-effectiveness of soluble beta-glucan gel in hard-to-heal wounds: an evaluation.
- Author
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Elg, Fredrik, Posnett, John, and Hunt, Sharon
- Subjects
ECONOMICS ,NATIONAL health services ,COMMUNITY health services ,COMPARATIVE studies ,COST effectiveness ,PHARMACEUTICAL gels ,MEDICAL care costs ,MEDICAL cooperation ,REGRESSION analysis ,RESEARCH ,WOUND healing ,WOUND care ,TREATMENT effectiveness ,RETROSPECTIVE studies ,CHRONIC wounds & injuries ,TREATMENT duration ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,BETA-glucans - Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a soluble beta-glucan-containing gel as short-term adjunct therapy in the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds in a UK community health-care setting. Methods: A comparative clinical evaluation involving consecutive patients treated for up to eight weeks with a beta-glucan-containing gel as adjunct to standard care. This was compared with consecutive patients as retrospective controls, and using the same standard care protocol from a year previously. The inclusion criteria was wounds that were slow-healing or stalled (<40% healing in four weeks). Results: A total of 300 patients took part. Complete follow-up at 24 weeks was available for 144 patients in the beta-glucan group, and 136 patients in the standard care group. At 24 weeks, the beta-glucan group had a 96% healing rate compared with 75% in the standard care group (p<0.001). The improvement in healing was associated with a reduction in the mean number of weeks of treatment per patient (7.2 and 10.7 for beta-glucan and standard care, respectively), and a reduction in the mean cost of treatment (£576 versus £685 for beta-glucan and standard care, respectively). Treatment costs included nursing time, prescription medications and dressings. In a subset of ulcer wounds (50% of the full sample), at 24 weeks the beta-glucan group had a 92% healing rate compared with 46% in the standard care group (p<0.001). Mean weeks of treatment were 10.4 versus 17.6, leading to a reduction in treatment cost of £388 per patient (£1227 versus £839) over 24 weeks. Conclusion: The results of this evaluation suggest that short-term use of the beta-glucan gel as an adjunct to standard care on slow-healing wounds can shorten healing times and reduce NHS costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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