[The effect of cost evaluation in the treatment of asthma]

To present value of cost effectiveness evaluation in asthma treatment Material and methods. Meta-analysis of asthma treatment studies compared with data from National Healthcare Plan in Slovenia.

Patients treated with fluticasone propionate (FP) were successfully controlled for 41.7% of treated weeks compared with 34.1% in the group treated with budesonide (B) (p < 0.001). Purchase price for FP (1.524 SIT/week) is not significantly different from B (1.462 SIT/week). The overall mean weekly cost per patient was 3.077 SIT for patient treated with B and 1.916 SIT for patient treated with FP. Cost of health care contacts were 56 SIT in the FP group and 1.275 SIT in B group per week. The total expenditure per week of successful treatment would be 4.594 SIT/week in the FP group and 9.025 SIT/week in patients treated with B.

It is evident that by evaluation of purchase price only no final conclusion of cost effectiveness of treatment of asthma is possible.

Limited resources in the health care could be properly distributed only after carefully weighting costs and comparing outcomes.