Analisi dei costi della stimolazione cerebrale profonda (DBS) nella malattia di Parkinson: uno studio osservazionale su pazienti italiani.

Objective: Assess costs of deep brain stimulation versus traditional pharmacological therapy (levo-dopa) in patients affected by Parkinson's disease from a social perspective. Design: A 16-month observational prospective study was undertaken. Patients were observed for 4 months before DBS procedure and 12 months afterwards. Clinical outcomes and resource consumption data were collected through specific questionnaires submitted to patients. Setting: 7 hospitals carrying out DBS intervention in 1998. Patients: 36 patients affected by Parkinson's disease - eligible for DBS intervention - were enrolled in the study. After DBS intervention, 31 patients were observed for 6 months and 22 patients for 12 months. Main outcome measures and results: Total costs to society were significantly lower in both the 0-6 month and the 6-12 month period following DBS procedure than in the preceding 4 months. A 17 month period is needed to cover the costs of DBS (∈ 20.033). Clinical symptoms assessed through the UPDRS scale and functional status measured with the Barthel Index were significantly improved after DBS. Conclusions: The results show that, from a social perspective, DBS procedure is economically advantageous compared to traditional pharmacological therapy in patients affected by Parkinson's disease who are eligible for the procedure.