Sensitivity analysis was carried out to assess the variability in the data. One way simple sensitivity analysis was carried out by varying; a) The age at inception, b) The probability of becoming HBeAg negative in the first year of interferon treatment, c) The probability of non-responders and patients treated with standard care becoming HBeAg negative after the first year, d) The probability of developing cirrhosis, e) The probability of reactivating HBeAg in the first year of interferon treatment, f) The probability of having cirrhosis before interferon treatment starts, g) The cost of interferon, h) The cost of treating cirrhosis, i) The discount rate. Multiway simple analysis was carried out by biasing all baseline values in favour of standard care.