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Cost-effectiveness of different strategies to monitor adults on antiretroviral treatment: a combined analysis of three mathematical models.

ABSTRACT: WHO's 2013 revisions to its Consolidated Guidelines on antiretroviral drugs recommend routine viral load monitoring, rather than clinical or immunological monitoring, as the preferred monitoring approach on the basis of clinical evidence. However, HIV programmes in resource-limited settings require guidance on the most cost-effective use of resources in view of other competing priorities such as expansion of antiretroviral therapy coverage. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of alternative patient monitoring strategies.We evaluated a range of monitoring strategies, including clinical, CD4 cell count, and viral load monitoring, alone and together, at different frequencies and with different criteria for switching to second-line therapies. We used three independently constructed and validated models simultaneously. We estimated costs on the basis of resource use projected in the models and associated unit costs; we quantified impact as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. We compared alternatives using incremental cost-effectiveness analysis.All models show that clinical monitoring delivers significant benefit compared with a hypothetical baseline scenario with no monitoring or switching. Regular CD4 cell count monitoring confers a benefit over clinical monitoring alone, at an incremental cost that makes it affordable in more settings than viral load monitoring, which is currently more expensive. Viral load monitoring without CD4 cell count every 6-12 months provides the greatest reductions in morbidity and mortality, but incurs a high cost per DALY averted, resulting in lost opportunities to generate health gains if implemented instead of increasing antiretroviral therapy coverage or expanding antiretroviral therapy eligibility.The priority for HIV programmes should be to expand antiretroviral therapy coverage, firstly at CD4 cell count lower than 350 cells per ?L, and then at a CD4 cell count lower than 500 cells per ?L, using lower-cost clinical or CD4 monitoring. At current costs, viral load monitoring should be considered only after high antiretroviral therapy coverage has been achieved. Point-of-care technologies and other factors reducing costs might make viral load monitoring more affordable in future.Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO.

SUBMITTER: Keebler D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4404633 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cost-effectiveness of different strategies to monitor adults on antiretroviral treatment: a combined analysis of three mathematical models.

Keebler Daniel D Revill Paul P Braithwaite Scott S Phillips Andrew A Blaser Nello N Borquez Annick A Cambiano Valentina V Ciaranello Andrea A Estill Janne J Gray Richard R Hill Andrew A Keiser Olivia O Kessler Jason J Menzies Nicolas A NA Nucifora Kimberly A KA Vizcaya Luisa Salazar LS Walker Simon S Welte Alex A Easterbrook Philippa P Doherty Meg M Hirnschall Gottfried G Hallett Timothy B TB

The Lancet. Global health 20131210 1

<h4>Background</h4>WHO's 2013 revisions to its Consolidated Guidelines on antiretroviral drugs recommend routine viral load monitoring, rather than clinical or immunological monitoring, as the preferred monitoring approach on the basis of clinical evidence. However, HIV programmes in resource-limited settings require guidance on the most cost-effective use of resources in view of other competing priorities such as expansion of antiretroviral therapy coverage. We assessed the cost-effectiveness o ...[more]

PMID: 25104633

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Project description:BackgroundNew WHO guidelines recommend ART initiation for HIV-positive persons with CD4 cell counts ≤500 cells/µL, a higher threshold than was previously recommended. Country decision makers must consider whether to further expand ART eligibility accordingly.MethodsWe used multiple independent mathematical models in four settings-South Africa, Zambia, India, and Vietnam-to evaluate the potential health impact, costs, and cost-effectiveness of different adult ART eligibility criteria under scenarios of current and expanded treatment coverage, with results projected over 20 years. Analyses considered extending eligibility to include individuals with CD4 ≤500 cells/µL or all HIV-positive adults, compared to the previous recommendation of initiation with CD4 ≤350 cells/µL. We assessed costs from a health system perspective, and calculated the incremental cost per DALY averted ($/DALY) to compare competing strategies. Strategies were considered 'very cost-effective' if the $/DALY was less than the country's per capita gross domestic product (GDP; South Africa: $8040, Zambia: $1425, India: $1489, Vietnam: $1407) and 'cost-effective' if $/DALY was less than three times per capita GDP.FindingsIn South Africa, the cost per DALY averted of extending ART eligibility to CD4 ≤500 cells/µL ranged from $237 to $1691/DALY compared to 2010 guidelines; in Zambia, expanded eligibility ranged from improving health outcomes while reducing costs (i.e. dominating current guidelines) to $749/DALY. Results were similar in scenarios with substantially expanded treatment access and for expanding eligibility to all HIV-positive adults. Expanding treatment coverage in the general population was therefore found to be cost-effective. In India, eligibility for all HIV-positive persons ranged from $131 to $241/DALY and in Vietnam eligibility for CD4 ≤500 cells/µL cost $290/DALY. In concentrated epidemics, expanded access among key populations was also cost-effective.InterpretationEarlier ART eligibility is estimated to be very cost-effective in low- and middle-income settings, although these questions should be revisited as further information becomes available. Scaling-up ART should be considered among other high-priority health interventions competing for health budgets.FundingThe Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and World Health Organization.

Project description:BACKGROUND:With a suite of promising new RSV prophylactics on the horizon, including long-acting monoclonal antibodies and new vaccines, it is likely that one or more of these will replace the current monoclonal Palivizumab programme. However, choosing the optimal intervention programme will require balancing the costs of the programmes with the health benefits accrued. METHODS:To compare the next generation of RSV prophylactics, we integrated a novel transmission model with an economic analysis. We estimated key epidemiological parameters by calibrating the model to 7 years of historical epidemiological data using a Bayesian approach. We determined the cost-effective and affordable maximum purchase price for a comprehensive suite of intervention programmes. FINDINGS:Our transmission model suggests that maternal protection of infants is seasonal, with 38-62% of infants born with protection against RSV. Our economic analysis found that to cost-effectively and affordably replace the current monoclonal antibody Palivizumab programme with long-acting monoclonal antibodies, the purchase price per dose would have to be less than around £4350 but dropping to £200 for vaccinated heightened risk infants or £90 for all infants. A seasonal maternal vaccine would have to be priced less than £85 to be cost-effective and affordable. While vaccinating pre-school and school-age children is likely not cost-effective relative to elderly vaccination programmes, vaccinating the elderly is not likely to be affordable. Conversely, vaccinating infants at 2?months seasonally would be cost-effective and affordable if priced less than £80. CONCLUSIONS:In a setting with seasonal RSV epidemiology, maternal protection conferred to newborns is also seasonal, an assumption not previously incorporated in transmission models of RSV. For a country with seasonal RSV dynamics like England, seasonal programmes rather than year-round intervention programmes are always optimal.

Project description:Patients with Lynch syndrome (LS) have a significantly increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) and other cancers. Genetic screening for LS among patients with newly diagnosed CRC aims to identify mutations in the disease-causing genes (i.e., the DNA mismatch repair genes) in the patients, to offer genetic testing for relatives of the patients with the mutations, and then to provide early prevention for the relatives with the mutations. Several genetic tests are available for LS, such as DNA sequencing for MMR genes and tumor testing using microsatellite instability and immunohistochemical analyses. Cost-effectiveness analyses of different genetic testing strategies for LS have been performed in several studies from different countries such as the US and Germany. However, a cost-effectiveness analysis for the testing has not yet been performed in Taiwan. In this study, we evaluated the cost-effectiveness of four genetic testing strategies for LS described in previous studies, while population-specific parameters, such as the mutation rates of the DNA mismatch repair genes and treatment costs for CRC in Taiwan, were used. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios based on discounted life years gained due to genetic screening were calculated for the strategies relative to no screening and to the previous strategy. Using the World Health Organization standard, which was defined based on Taiwan's Gross Domestic Product per capita, the strategy based on immunohistochemistry as a genetic test followed by BRAF mutation testing was considered to be highly cost-effective relative to no screening. Our probabilistic sensitivity analysis results also suggest that the strategy has a probability of 0.939 of being cost-effective relative to no screening based on the commonly used threshold of $50,000 to determine cost-effectiveness. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first cost-effectiveness analysis for evaluating different genetic testing strategies for LS in Taiwan. The results will be informative for the government when considering offering screening for LS in patients newly diagnosed with CRC.

Project description:ObjectiveTo assess the comparative costs and effects of interventions to combat five neuropsychiatric conditions (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, epilepsy, and heavy alcohol use).DesignCost effectiveness analysis based on an epidemiological model.SettingTwo epidemiologically defined World Health Organization sub-regions of the world: countries in sub-Saharan Africa with very high adult and high child mortality (AfrE); and countries in South East Asia with high adult and high child mortality (SearD).Data sourcesPublished studies, costing databases.Main outcome measuresCost per capita and cost per disability adjusted life year (DALY) averted, expressed in international dollars ($Int) for the year 2005.ResultsAcross 44 assessed intervention strategies for the five neuropsychiatric conditions, cost effectiveness values differed by as much as two orders of magnitude (from $Int100-250 to $Int10,000-25,000 for a year of healthy life gained). In both sub-regions, inpatient based treatment of schizophrenia with newer antipsychotic drugs was the most costly and least cost effective strategy. The most cost effective strategies in the African sub-region related to population based alcohol control, while in the South East Asian sub-region the most cost effective intervention was drug treatment of epilepsy in primary care. The cumulative cost per capita of the most cost effective set of interventions covering all five conditions was estimated at $Int4.90-5.70. This package comprises interventions for epilepsy (older first line antiepileptic drugs); depression (generically produced newer antidepressants and psychosocial treatment); bipolar disorder (mood stabiliser drug lithium); schizophrenia (neuroleptic antipsychotic drugs and psychosocial treatment); and heavy alcohol use (increased taxation and its enforcement, reduced access, and, in the African sub-region, advertising bans and brief advice to heavy drinkers in primary care).ConclusionsReallocation of resources to cost effective intervention strategies would increase health gain, save money and help implement much needed expansion of services for neuropsychiatric conditions in low resource settings.

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Cost-effectiveness of different strategies to monitor adults on antiretroviral treatment: a combined analysis of three mathematical models.

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Cost-effectiveness of different strategies to monitor adults on antiretroviral treatment: a combined analysis of three mathematical models.

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