THE DIFFERENCE IN MEAN COSTS AS A PHARMACOECONOMIC OUTCOME VARIABLE -POWER CONSIDERATIONS

The difference in mean costs between a placebo and a drug treated grou p is used for the pharmacoeconomic evaluation of a new drug. The distr ibution of costs without treatment (null hypothesis) is determined thr ough hospital records. The sampling properties are established by simu lation. The results of the simulation allow determination of a break p oint of differences corresponding to a given level of significance. Fo r power determination, using this break point, clinical hypotheses are used to generate the distribution of costs under treatment (alternati ve hypothesis). (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.