Mean (95% CI) estimates of quality of life, duration of episode, cost of episode of care and QALY loss*
| Source of estimate | Men | Women | All | |
| EQ-5D index | Q | 0.88 (0.86–0.90) | 0.87 (0.83–0.90) | 0.87 (0.85–0.89) |
| EQ-VAS | Q | 79 (77–80) | 75 (71–78) | 77 (76–79) |
| Disutility† | Q | 0.043 (0.021–0.065) | 0.063 (0.029–0.097) | 0.056 (0.038–0.074) |
| Duration episode of care (days) | CNR | 35 (20–51) | 37 (20–53) | 36 (27–46) |
| Prescription/recovery time (days)‡ | EO | 39 (34–44) | 37 (41–43) | 36 (36–40) |
| Time to attendance (days) at clinic after noticing GW§ | Q | 144 (112–174) | 69 (48–90) | 111 (88–135) |
| Mean QALY loss (days)¶ | Q and CNR | 6.6 (0.8–14.9) | 6.5 (2.9–11.2) | 6.6 (2.9–11.3) |
| Mean cost per episode of care (£), excluding STI screen | CNR | 80 (67–92) | 109 (94–124) | 94 (84–104) |
| Mean cost per episode of care (£), including STI screen** | CNR | 132 (120–144) | 161 (146–176) | 146 (136–157) |
* Sampling weights applied.
† Loss of quality of life compared with UK population norms, as measured using the EQ-5D index.
‡ For analysis of quality-adjusted life-year loss, additional time after the end of an episode of care was included, to allow for continued presences of genital warts after the last clinic visit. When a prescription for home treatment was provided at the last visit, 28 days was added. When a clinic treatment was provided, 14–42 days was added as a reasonable recovery time (estimated based on prescription duration and clinical opinion). A further 14 days were added at the end of the episode to allow quality of life to return to the population norm.
§ n=292, based on participants reporting attendance with first visit of first episode only. One patient who reported a warts episode of 23 years was excluded. Patients from the Homerton clinic were also excluded, due to the large proportion of referrals from other centres. When participants provided a range the mid-point was taken to estimate the duration between a patient first noticing their warts and completing the questionnaire. Sampling weights applied to mean estimates.
¶ Calculated by combining disutility estimates and duration between onset of warts and attendance at clinic from the questionnaire study with duration of an episode of care plus an allowance for treatment and recovery.
** £52.12 per person, comprising laboratory processing costs of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV tests from a previous study.23
CNR, case note review; EO, expert opinion/literature; GW, genital warts; Q, questionnaire; QALY, quality-adjusted life-year; STI, sexually transmitted infection; VAS, visual analogue scale.