[An economic evaluation of chondroitin sulfate and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Data from the VECTRA study].

OBJECTIVE Our aim was to investigate: a) the average cost per patient with osteoarthritis treated with chondroitin sulfate compared with NSAIDs for 6 months and b) the possible impact that the reduction NSAID use due to monotherapy with or combined administration of chondroitin sulfate treatment may have on the budget of the Spanish National Health System. METHODS A cost-minimization model compared both treatments (efficacy equivalence assumption), used at the recommended doses and regimens during a 6-month period. Data used in the model was obtained from the VECTRA study, a retrospective study of 530 patients with osteoarthritis treated with chondroitin sulfate or NSAIDs that was conducted to determine the consumption of health care resources. The efficacy and incidence of adverse events was estimated from meta-analysis based on randomized clinical trials. Univariate sensitivity analysis was performed for the base case scenario. RESULTS The overall 6-month cost per patient given chondroitin sulfate was 141 € compared with 182 € when treated with NSAIDs. If during the forthcoming 3 years, 5%, 10%, and 15% of patients currently treated with NSAIDs would gradually be replaced by treatment with chondroitin sulfate, the expected savings for the Spanish National Health System during these 3 years would be over 38,700,000 €. In addition, 2,666 cases of gastrointestinal adverse events (including 90 serious adverse events) will have been avoided for every 10,000 patients treated with chondroitin sulfate instead of NSAID. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the strength of base-case in all scenarios. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of these findings, chondroitin sulfate is a treatment for osteoarthritis with a lesser cost and better gastrointestinal tolerability compared with NSAIDs.