Work

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Adding Telerehabilitation to Standard Care for Ankle Sprains Compared with Standard Care Alone

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background: Ankle sprain (AS) is a common musculoskeletal injury. While telerehabilitation is an effective treatment for various musculoskeletal conditions, evidence on its cost-effectiveness for AS is lacking. Methods: = 41) received standard care plus asynchronous telerehabilitation. Effectiveness was measured using the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) with subscales for daily living (FAAM-ADL) and sports activities (FAAM-sports). The economic evaluation used the Mexican health system's official price list, including work incapacity costs, updated to 2024 (U.S. dollars). A one-way sensitivity analysis was also performed. Results: At 4 weeks, the intervention group showed a gain of 78 points in functionality for FAAM-ADL and 80.2 points for FAAM-sports, while the control group scored 69.1 and 61.6, respectively. When the costs of work incapacity were considered, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of adding telerehabilitation per point gained in FAAM-ADL functionality was US$ -14.4 and US$ -8.5 for FAAM-sports. When work incapacity costs were excluded, the ICER was US$ -0.7 and US$ -0.4, respectively. Conclusions: Adding telerehabilitation to standard care for AS was cost-saving, achieving greater effectiveness at a lower cost. This is more evident when direct costs are considered together with the costs of work incapacity.

Source: Telemedicine Reports

DOI: 10.1089/tmr.2025.0010

Authors: Juan Figueroa-García, Víctor Marcial Granados-García, Juan Carlos H. Hernández-Rivera, David Rojano-Mejía

Institutions: Mexican Social Security Institute, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI

Language: English

Topic: Foot and Ankle Surgery

Subfield: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,000