Iron therapy for iron deficiency without anaemia

In Switzerland, many women with iron deficiency without anaemia receive iron therapy in the form of infusions or tablets. This report investigates the efficacy and costs of iron therapy for, among other things, fatigue, restless leg syndrome and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The studies analysed showed variations in efficacy depending on the symptoms. In the case of restless leg syndrome, a reduction of symptom severity was observed. Women with fatigue experienced an improvement of symptoms. A study of children with ADHS showed no significant effect except for lower rates of restless leg syndrome among the subjects. In the studies, iron therapy was shown to have no effect on sleepiness, quality of life, or depression. The overall quality of evidence in the studies was judged to be very low. A purpose-built model comparing the costs of iron infusions versus iron tablets showed infusions to be a much more expensive form of iron therapy than tablets. However, the uncertainty of the data in the model does not allow for an exact estimate of the savings potential. It states that between CHF 13 and 102 million could be saved if tablets rather than infusions were consistently prescribed as the first-line treatment.

Dokumente

HTA report (PDF, 3 MB, 24.04.2020)

HTA report: Executive summary in German (PDF, 140 kB, 05.06.2020)

Stakeholder feedback on the HTA report (PDF, 543 kB, 24.04.2020)

Scientific evaluation report: Critical appraisal of the Eurofer and Swissfer study reports (PDF, 617 kB, 05.06.2020)

Scientific evaluation report: Critical appraisal of the Eurofer and Swissfer study reports: Executive summary in German (PDF, 139 kB, 05.06.2020)

Response of Swissfer/Eurofer authors to the scientific evaluation report (PDF, 109 kB, 05.06.2020)

Scope effectiveness (PDF, 263 kB, 12.07.2018)

Scope health economics (PDF, 289 kB, 12.07.2018)

Scoping report FOPH (PDF, 174 kB, 14.09.2017)

Stakeholder feedback on the scoping report (PDF, 124 kB, 14.09.2017)

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Last modification 05.06.2020

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Iron therapy for iron deficiency without anaemia

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