Cost of deep brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease by surgical stimulation sites

OBJECTIVE: To assess costs and effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the internal globus pallidum (GPi) versus subthalamic nucleus (STN) from the provider and societal perspectives for Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in a multicenter randomized trial. METHODS: All costs from randomization to 36 months were included. Costs were from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicare databases and clinical trial data. Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) were from Quality of Well Being questionnaires. RESULTS: Provider costs were similar for the 144 GPi and 130 STN patients (GPi: 138, 044 vs. STN: 131, 822; difference = 6, 222, 95% confidence interval CI: -42, 125 to 45, 343). Societal costs were also similar (GPi: 171, 061 vs. STN: 167, 706; difference = 3, 356, 95% CI: -57, 371 to 60, 294). The GPi patients had nonsignificantly more QALYs. CONCLUSIONS: The QALYs and costs were similar; the level of uncertainty given the sample size suggests that these factors should not direct treatment or resource allocation decisions in selecting or making available either procedure for eligible PD patients.