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Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), is a common disorder. The most effective medical treatment for GERD is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). The aim of this study was to specify the most inexpensive PPI therapy for GERD, and to examine the implications of varying outcome measure, holding time, on the conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of the treatments. Proton pump inhibitors that have holding time of intragastric pH>4 for at least 11 h in 24 h period (esomeprazole, lansoprazole, omeprazole and rabeprazole), were included. In this cost-minimization analysis (CMA), data on holding times were gathered from scientific publications listed in MEDLINE, prices of proton pump inhibitors from the Finnish database of drug prices and the treatment dosages were taken from the official guide of drug therapies in Finland. A decision tree was applied and the probabilities utilized were acquired from three expert physicians. The cost-minimization analysis was performed in three settings. At first, drugs that had a holding time (pH>4) of 11 h or more were included. Secondly, drugs that had a holding time of 12 h or more were included, and thirdly, a holding time of 13 h or more was required. In the first analysis, the least expensive PPI treatment was lansoprazole (average cost of 138.89 € per patient). In the second analysis, least expensive treatment was rabeprazole (193.81 € per patient), and in the third, rabeprazole again (193.81 € per patient). Esomeprazole and omeprazole were not among two of the least expensive alternatives in any of the settings. Which proton pump therapy turns out to be the least expensive for GERD, depends on the length of the holding time desired. Varying the holding time of the drug had a profound effect on the conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of the alternative treatments.

Aim and Motivation: This paper investigates the income and socio-economic effects on institutional long-term care demand (LTC) in Finland from an economics perspective. If lessons are learned from major contributors of care needs and costs then preventative measures can be designed to answer these challenges. The motivation for this paper is that LTC costs are expected to increase in Finland by 50 percent per annum in the next 25 years due to the doubling of the 65 years old population (by 2039). Aging of populations and workforce is a European wide phenomenon. Definitions: LTC for old age people is by definition care for chronic sickness and disability in the last years of life. It can be either formal or informal care (or both) delivered to a homelike environment (home care) or given at an institution (institutional care).Methods: The economics of LTC care are reviewed based on existing literature. Next the econometric and institutional context is described. A longitudinal competing risks and multinomial logit model are estimated. The two competing risks are institutional entry or death outside institution. Data: Finnish Health2000 individual level survey data from year 2000 linked with a day-by-day care register follow-up till end of 2010. The sample consists of N=3245 over 50 year old age population.Results: It is found that higher household (OECD) and personal income reduce demand for institutional LTC care controlling for health, functional capacity and key living habits. The difference between extreme income quintiles (lowest vs. highest) is 1,3 percent for men and 0,6 percent for women. This result suggests that institutional care may include disutility from a consumer preferences point of view. The highest risks of institutional LTC care are found among small income, single living and cognitively disabled highly aged people (over 80, 90 years old). Neurological diseases and cancer are the biggest risk factors of institutional entry. For deaths outside institution the biggest risks are dementia and cancer. ADL problems and old age frailty contribute to both competing risks.Policy conclusions: There are significant socio-economic inequalities in institutional LTC care entry. Prevention of neurological and living habits diseases (smoking, weight disorders) has potential for cost savings in institutional care services.