MEASUREMENTS: Cost per quality-adjusted life years
(QALY) gained for 5 years of bisphosphonate therapy compared
to no treatment. Cost-effectiveness was defined at a
willingness-to-pay of $50,000.
RESULTS: In the healthiest group, all costs were less than
$18,000 per QALY. In the median quartiles of life expectancy,
lifetime costs per QALY were less than $27,000 for
patients at all ages; treatment became cost-saving at a starting
age of 75 and remained so through a starting age of 85.
Even in the sickest group, although osteoporosis treatment
was not cost-saving, it remained cost-effective through a
starting age of 90 with lifetime costs of less than $43,000
per QALY.