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Open Access Journal Article

A cost-comparative analysis of intravenous Ferric Carboxymaltose versus Iron Sucrose for the ambulatory treatment of Iron-deficiency Anemia in a major tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia

by S Alzahrani 1 ,  M Almeziny `,* ,  A Narang 2 ,  O Mohamed 3 ,  Salem Almeziny 4  and  Abdullah Almeziny 5
1
Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2
IQVIA, Gurgaon, India
3
IQVIA, Dubai, DU, United Arab Emirates
4
College of medicine, Almaarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
5
College of medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
IJCMR  2023, 5; 1(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.61466/ijcmr1010005
Received: 19 July 2023 / Accepted: 19 August 2023 / Published Online: 20 August 2023
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Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to compare the cost of outpatient ferric carboxymaltose (FCM; Ferinject®) versus Iron sucrose complex (ISC; Ferosac®), two prevalent intravenous iron therapy used in the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) from a tertiary care hospital perspective.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed for all patients who were administered FCM in the outpatient clinical setting at Prince Sultan Military Medical City from January 1, 2019, until December 31, 2019. The descriptive data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2019 (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). The total cost of treatment reflected the cost of drugs, the cost of disposables for each infusion, drug monitoring costs during infusion, the cost of productivity loss, and patient traveling cost.

Result: Overall, 993 patients with IDA, treated with FCM in 1,688 outpatient visits were recruited in the study. In the outpatient setting, the per annum cost of treatment was SAR 1,434,092.50 with FCM treatment and SAR 1,715,299.70 with ISC treatment, with a corresponding saving of 16.4% (SAR 281,207.20) with FCM. The cost savings with FCM treatment can be attributed to the reduced frequency of patient visits and corresponding reduction in drug monitoring costs (SAR 266,995.20;77.3%), loss of productivity per year (SAR 163,550.20; 77.3%), and cost of transportation per year (SAR 573,920.00; 77.3%).

Conclusion: The use of FCM, as opposed to ISC resulted in a reduced number of iron infusions (4.4 visits for ISC as compared to one visit for FCM), accompanied by a reduction in the total cost. FCM may represent a cost-saving option compared with the existing alternative therapy used for the management of IDA in KSA.

Keywords: Iron-deficiency anemia, Ferric carboxymaltose, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, cost-comparative analysis, Intravenous Iron, Iron sucrose;
Copyright: © 2023 by Alzahrani, Almeziny, Narang, Mohamed, Almeziny and Almeziny. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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ACS Style
Alzahrani, S.; Almeziny, M.; Narang, A.; Mohamed, O.; Almeziny, S.; Almeziny, A. A cost-comparative analysis of intravenous Ferric Carboxymaltose versus Iron Sucrose for the ambulatory treatment of Iron-deficiency Anemia in a major tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research, 2023, 1, 5. https://doi.org/10.61466/ijcmr1010005
AMA Style
Alzahrani S, Almeziny M, Narang A, Mohamed O, Almeziny S, Almeziny A. A cost-comparative analysis of intravenous Ferric Carboxymaltose versus Iron Sucrose for the ambulatory treatment of Iron-deficiency Anemia in a major tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Clinical Medical Research; 2023, 1(1):5. https://doi.org/10.61466/ijcmr1010005
Chicago/Turabian Style
Alzahrani, S; Almeziny, M; Narang, A; Mohamed, O; Almeziny, Salem; Almeziny, Abdullah 2023. "A cost-comparative analysis of intravenous Ferric Carboxymaltose versus Iron Sucrose for the ambulatory treatment of Iron-deficiency Anemia in a major tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia" International Journal of Clinical Medical Research 1, no.1:5. https://doi.org/10.61466/ijcmr1010005

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