Cost-Effectiveness of Ceftriaxone and Levofloxacin Use in Pneumonia Patients at Army Hospital Indonesia

Abstract

Pneumonia is a common respiratory tract infection worldwide and a serious issue in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta. Given the significant burden of pneumonia in Jakarta, periodic pharmacoeconomic evaluations of inpatient treatment are essential to support evidence-based policymaking. This study aims to compare the cost-effectiveness of levofloxacin and ceftriaxone, commonly used for pneumonia treatment. This study is an observational analysis using a cross-sectional method on 58 samples selected by a purposive sampling technique. The results indicate that levofloxacin provides more leukocyte reduction than ceftriaxone, and there were significant differences (p = 0.033). Although ceftriaxone therapy has a lower average direct medical cost than levofloxacin, there is no significant difference in the average direct medical cost of both therapies (p = 0.944). However, levofloxacin therapy has a lower Average Cost-Effectiveness Ratio (ACER) value of IDR 1,410.58 compared to ceftriaxone, making it more cost-effective. Switching from ceftriaxone to levofloxacin requires an additional IDR 64.00 to reduce 1 μL of leukocyte cells. Therefore, levofloxacin is concluded to be more cost-effective for treating pneumonia patients in inpatient care at Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital, Indonesia.