Journal
BMC PSYCHIATRY
Volume 15, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
BIOMED CENTRAL LTD
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-015-0700-x
Keywords
Autism; Economic evaluation; Cost-effectiveness; Pre-school; Communication
Categories
Funding
- UK National Autistic Society
- Medical Research Council [G0401546]
- UK Department for Children, Schools and Families
- UK Department of Health
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Background: Autism is associated with impairments that have life-time consequences for diagnosed individuals and a substantial impact on families. There is growing interest in early interventions for children with autism, yet despite the substantial economic burden, there is little evidence of the cost-effectiveness of such interventions with which to support resource allocation decisions. This study reports an economic evaluation of a parent-mediated, communication-focused therapy carried out within the Pre-School Autism Communication Trial (PACT). Methods: 152 pre-school children with autism were randomly assigned to treatment as usual (TAU) or PACT + TAU. Primary outcome was severity of autism symptoms at 13-month follow-up. Economic data included health, education and social services, childcare, parental productivity losses and informal care. Results: Clinically meaningful symptom improvement was evident for 53 % of PACT + TAU versus 41 % of TAU (odds ratio 1.91, p = 0.074). Service costs were significantly higher for PACT + TAU (mean difference 4,489 pound, p < 0.001), but the difference in societal costs was smaller and non-significant (mean difference 1,385 pound, p = 0.788) due to lower informal care rates for PACT + TAU. Conclusions: Improvements in outcome generated by PACT come at a cost. Although this cost is lower when burden on parents is included, the cost and effectiveness results presented do not support the cost-effectiveness of PACT + TAU compared to TAU alone.
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