TY - JOUR
T1 - Cost-effectiveness of triage testing for facility-based systematic screening of tuberculosis among Ugandan adults
AU - Murray, Matthew
AU - Cattamanchi, Adithya
AU - Denkinger, Claudia
AU - Van'T Hoog, Anja
AU - Pai, Madhukar
AU - Dowdy, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2016 BMJ Global Health. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Background: Systematic screening is often proposed as a way to improve case finding for tuberculosis (TB), but the cost-effectiveness of specific strategies for systematic screening remains poorly studied. Methods: We constructed a Markov-based decision analytic model to analyse the cost-effectiveness of triage testing for TB in Uganda, compared against passive case detection with Xpert MTB/RIF. We assumed a triage algorithm whereby all adults presenting to healthcare centres would be screened for cough, and those with cough of at least 2 weeks would receive the triage test, with positive triage results confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF. We adopted the perspective of the TB control sector, using a primary outcome of the cost per year of life gained (YLG) over a lifetime time horizon. Results: Systematic screening in a population with a 5% underlying prevalence of TB was estimated to cost US$610 per YLG (95% uncertainty range US$200- US$1859) with chest X-ray (CXR) (US$5 per test, specificity 0.67), or US$588 (US$221-US$1746) with C reactive protein (CRP) (US$3 per test, specificity 0.59). In addition to the cost and specificity of the triage test, cost-effectiveness was most sensitive to the underlying prevalence of TB, monthly risk of mortality in people with untreated TB and the proportion of patients with TB who would be treated in the absence of systematic screening. Conclusions: To optimise the cost-effectiveness of facility-based systematic screening of TB with a triage test, it must be carried out in a high-risk population, or use triage tests that are cheaper or more specific than CXR or CRP.
AB - Background: Systematic screening is often proposed as a way to improve case finding for tuberculosis (TB), but the cost-effectiveness of specific strategies for systematic screening remains poorly studied. Methods: We constructed a Markov-based decision analytic model to analyse the cost-effectiveness of triage testing for TB in Uganda, compared against passive case detection with Xpert MTB/RIF. We assumed a triage algorithm whereby all adults presenting to healthcare centres would be screened for cough, and those with cough of at least 2 weeks would receive the triage test, with positive triage results confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF. We adopted the perspective of the TB control sector, using a primary outcome of the cost per year of life gained (YLG) over a lifetime time horizon. Results: Systematic screening in a population with a 5% underlying prevalence of TB was estimated to cost US$610 per YLG (95% uncertainty range US$200- US$1859) with chest X-ray (CXR) (US$5 per test, specificity 0.67), or US$588 (US$221-US$1746) with C reactive protein (CRP) (US$3 per test, specificity 0.59). In addition to the cost and specificity of the triage test, cost-effectiveness was most sensitive to the underlying prevalence of TB, monthly risk of mortality in people with untreated TB and the proportion of patients with TB who would be treated in the absence of systematic screening. Conclusions: To optimise the cost-effectiveness of facility-based systematic screening of TB with a triage test, it must be carried out in a high-risk population, or use triage tests that are cheaper or more specific than CXR or CRP.
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U2 - 10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000064
DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000064
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85026257933
SN - 2059-7908
VL - 1
JO - BMJ Global Health
JF - BMJ Global Health
IS - 2
M1 - e000064
ER -