Systematic review on the cost-effectiveness of self-management education programme for type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objectives A review of cost-effectiveness studies on self-management education programmes for Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods Cochrane, PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for papers published from January 2003 through September 2015. Further hand searching using the reference lists of included papers was carried out. Results In total, 777 papers were identified and 12 papers were finally included. We found eight programmes whose effectiveness analyses were based on randomised controlled trials and whose costs were comprehensively estimated from the stated perspective. Among these eight, four studies showed a cost per unit reduction in clinical risk factors (HbA1c or BMI) of US$491 to US$7723 or cost per glycaemic symptom day avoided of US$39. In three studies the cost per QALY gained, as estimated from a life-time model, was less than US$50,000. However, one study found the programme was not cost-effective despite a gain in QALYs at the one-year follow up. Conclusion A small number of cost-effectiveness studies were identified with only eight of sufficiently good quality. The cost of a self-management education programme achieving reduction in clinical risk factors seems to be modest and is likely to be cost-effective in the long-term.