PHARMACOECONOMIC IMPACT OF FACTORS AFFECTING COMPLIANCE WITH ANTIBIOTIC REGIMENS IN THE TREATMENT OF ACUTE OTITIS-MEDIA

Background. The total cost of treating otitis media in the United Stat es alone is estimated at >3.5 billion dollars annually, Therefore trea tment approaches that reduce the cost of managing otitis media can hav e a large impact on overall health care costs. Methods. In this study cost effectiveness factors of various antimicrobial agents, such as ad verse events and overall patient acceptance, were examined. Results, D ecreased patient acceptance and higher incidence of adverse events had a negative impact on the cost of treatment, Amoxicillin/clavulanate, cefprozil, erythromycin/sulfisoxazole and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazol e were found to be associated with decreased patient acceptance compar ed with cefixime, Cefixime also had the lowest number of adverse event s of any of the drugs used, Amoxicillin had the lowest total cost for a single course of treatment, exclusive of costs of recurrence, which were examined in a previous study. Conclusion, This study concluded th at in cases in which several antibiotics may be clinically effective, comparative tolerability and patient acceptance data should be conside red for selection of appropriate therapy. High compliance and lower mo rbidity can result in lower costs and better quality of life.