Design
Cost-utility study that compared intravenous MS versus standard
treatment (control group) in an infant with acute asthma in the
emergency setting. The effectiveness outcome was the quality-adjusted
life years (QALYs). The analysis was carried out from a societal
perspective (included direct and indirect costs). The analytic horizon
was an acute episode of asthma. Given the short time horizon, no type of
discount to costs or results was applied. The study protocol was
reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Clinica Somer
(No 281015) and the University of Antioquia (No 18/2015).
Decision Analytic Model
A decision tree model was used to
estimate the cost-effectiveness of the MS in acute asthma
(Figure 1 ). We defined the following outcomes according to the
natural history of acute asthma: home treatment, hospitalization , need
of mechanical ventilation support and death.