Design
Cost-utility study that compared intravenous MS versus standard treatment (control group) in an infant with acute asthma in the emergency setting. The effectiveness outcome was the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The analysis was carried out from a societal perspective (included direct and indirect costs). The analytic horizon was an acute episode of asthma. Given the short time horizon, no type of discount to costs or results was applied. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Clinica Somer (No 281015) and the University of Antioquia (No 18/2015).
Decision Analytic Model
A decision tree model was used to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the MS in acute asthma (Figure 1 ). We defined the following outcomes according to the natural history of acute asthma: home treatment, hospitalization , need of mechanical ventilation support and death.