Uncertainty
neck pain, Neck Disability, pain
The uncertainty of ICER and costs was estimated using the bootstrap residual technique [Three sensitivity analyses were conducted. First, a per-protocol analysis was performed only on patients who had received six or more treatments. Second, the method for calculating the productivity loss was altered. In the primary analysis, overall work impairment was calculated by including all patients and not just waged workers. Because it was assumed that only employed patients would have time and productivity loss in the sensitivity analysis, the loss of patients other than waged workers was processed as zero. Third, pharmacopuncture fees may vary from one hospital to another as they are not reimbursed. Accordingly, pharmacopuncture fees were assumed to be 1.5 and 2 times the pharmacopuncture cost in the primary analysis while performing the cost-effectiveness analysis. Finally, a cost-effectiveness analysis was performed on the Numerical rating scale(NRS) score for neck pain and Neck Disability Index (NDI). The VAS is a numeric pain scale that can be used for an objective assessment of subjective pain felt by patients. The patient selects the appropriate point along a 100 mm-long line with one end labeled 0, indicating no pain, and the other end labeled 10, indicating the worst pain possible [