DISCUSSION
FMS, MCI
FMS
This study presents a trial-based CUA conducted on a multidisciplinary intervention for patients with FMS in Spain, which proved cost-effective compared with usual practice. The results show that the proposed programme improves patients’ QALYs significantly compared with the control group, and its incremental costs do not exceed the cost-effectiveness threshold, with the potential for cost-savings when the MCI was administrated to al least 66%.The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is the most popular tool for reporting CUAs. Notably, alternatives are gaining relevance in the economic evaluation scene. Paulden (The singularity of the CUA is the use of the QALYs. This metric allows incorporation of patients’ self-reported health perception into consideration when evaluating the benefits of a new medical intervention, and it allows comparisons between strategies with different health outcomes. In agreement with the literature, the estimated QALYs showed a decreased lower threshold limit compared with the results we would have obtained if using the utility model for the UK. As reported by Abellán Perpiñán (Contrary to expectations, no statistically significant differences in direct and indirect costs were observed between the study groups. These findings are less surprising if we consider that waves 4 and 5 of the programme, representing 44.2% of the sample, had their post-intervention data collected throughout 2020 and the beginning of 2021 during the most challenging times of the COVID-19 (SAR-CoV-2) pandemic. According to the results of an The results of the current study are consistent with previous studies from the last 10 years showing a dominant pattern of non-pharmacological intervention strategies for FMS compared with the usual clinical practice in Spain (Lastly, the presented SA supports the robustness of the study results. It particularly demonstrates the benefits of implementing the MCI programme in a real-cost scenario and the relevance and benefits of covering the programme session scheme as planned. As discovered through qualitative research within this project, the programme’s success relies not only on implementing intervention techniques, but also on the process and group effect it triggers (