Objective: The study reports the cost-effectiveness results of end-stage renal disease (ESDR) patients in Mexico in terms of years of life gained and quality of life and the economic cost with regards to three treatment alternatives that could be considered mutually exclusive: continuous peritoneal ambulatory dialysis (CAPD), hemodialysis (HD) and renal transplant (RT).
Method: The economic costs were calculated by using the average cost case-management methodology and further, the probable of life expectancy and the quality of life were cross-sectionally assessed by means of the Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) measured by the Rosser Index.
Results: The results show that economic costs in US$ of the three treatment alternatives were: CAPD $5,643.07, HD $9,631.60, and RT $3,021.63. The probability of life expectancy for CAPD and RT for the first and third year were: 86.2% and 66.9%, and 89.9% and 79.6%, respectively. The QALY scores for patients were: CAPD 0.8794, HD 0.8640, and RT 0.9783.
Conclusion: The intervention with the highest cost-effectiveness coefficient was the renal transplant (3,088.69), followed by the CAPD (6,416.95) and HD (11,147.68). A significant difference was found between the transplanted patients and patients undergoing dialysis. Finally, this study concluded that the RT offers the least expensive alternative and the greatest number of years of life gained as well as providing significant changes in the quality of life of ESRD patients.