Zinc supplementation reduced cost and duration of acute diarrhea in children.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether zinc with oral rehydration solution (ORS) is more cost effective than ORS alone in the treatment of acute diarrhea. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING Cost-effectiveness analysis among patients consulting the emergency room of a government institution. METHOD Cost of treatment and outcome of participants of a randomized trial of zinc+ORS vs. ORS alone for acute diarrhea were investigated. Included were subjects 2-59 months with diarrhea <7 days and no dehydration. The direct medical, nonmedical and indirect costs were obtained, using the societal perspective. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated. RESULTS Sixty patients were given zinc+ORS and 57 were given ORS alone. Mean duration of diarrhea was 17 hours shorter and mean total cost of treatment was 5% cheaper in the zinc than ORS group . The ICER showed that with use of zinc, the society saves $ 2.4 per day of diarrhea <4 days and spends $ 0.03 per case of diarrhea averted <4 days from consult, although the confidence interval included the null value of zero. CONCLUSION Use of zinc with ORS reduced the total cost and duration of acute diarrhea. The ICER suggests cost effectiveness of zinc supplementation but there is a need to further assess the role of zinc supplementation in a larger population.