Pharmacoeconomic Efficacy of Levofloxacin Sequential Therapy for Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Elderly Patients

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate pharmacoeconomic efficacy of two different dosage regimens of levofloxacin in the treatment of lower respiratory tract bacterial infection.METHODS:A total of 90 patients with lower respiratory tract bacterial infection were enrolled:45(group A) were randomly assigned to receive levofloxacin injection by continuous intravenous drip for 10 days,and another 45(group B) to receive levofloxacin injection and levofloxacin capsules by sequential therapy for 10 days.A cost-minimization analysis was performed on two groups.RESULTS:For Group A vs.Group B,the cure rate was 71.11% vs.68.89%(P0.05),the effective rate was 93.33% vs.88.89%(P0.05),the bacterial clearance rate was 93.33% vs.91.11%(P0.05),and the incidence of ADRs was 6.67% vs.4.44%(P0.05).However,the treatment cost in Group A(1 801.50 yuan) was significantly higher than in Group B(1 191.35yuan) ;the cost-effectiveness ratios of two groups were 1 930.25 and 1 340.25 respectively.CONCLUSION:The sequential therapy of levofloxacin injection and levofloxacin capsules is economic for lower respiratory tract bacterial infection.