An economic evaluation of a European cohort from a multinational trial of linezolid versus teicoplanin in serious Gram-positive bacterial infections: the importance of treatment setting in evaluating treatment effects.

Author(s): Nathwani D, Li JZ, Balan DA, Willke RJ, Rittenhouse BE, Mozaffari E, Tavakoli M, Tang T

Affiliation(s): Infection and Immunodeficiency Unit, Ward 42, East Block, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Tayside University Hospitals, Dundee, Scotland DD1 9SY, UK. dilip.nathwani@tuht.scot.nhs.uk

Publication date & source: 2004-04, Int J Antimicrob Agents., 23(4):315-24.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Multicenter Study; Randomized Controlled Trial

In a recent multinational trial, hospital resource use and total cost of treatment were compared between linezolid and teicoplanin for severe Gram-positive bacterial infections among 227 European hospitalised patients. The results show that the linezolid group had a 3.2-day (6.3 for linezolid versus 9.5 for teicoplanin groups) shorter mean intravenous antibiotic treatment duration. Certain baseline variables, particularly the inpatient location at enrolment and the presence of outpatient/home parenteral antibiotic therapy (OHPAT), had substantial effects on length of stay (LOS) and cost of treatment. After adjusting for the between-treatment difference in these two variables and other baseline variables, the results showed non-significant shorter LOS and lower mean total cost of treatment for the linezolid group among patients with no access to OHPAT.