Cost-effectiveness of a new interferon-based blood assay, QuantiFERON®-TB Gold, in screening tuberculosis contacts
OBJECTIVE: To assess the cost-effectiveness of Quanti-FERON®-TB Gold (QFT-G) vs. the tuberculin skin test (TST) in diagnosing LTBI in contacts of active TB cases using a decision analytic Markov model.
METHODS: Three screening strategies—TST alone, QFT-G alone and sequential screening of TST then QFT-G—were evaluated. The model was further stratified according to ethnicity and bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination status. Data sources included published studies and empirical data. Results were reported in terms of the incremental net monetary benefit (INMB) of each strategy compared with the baseline strategy of TST-based screening in all contacts.
RESULTS: The most economically attractive strategy was to administer QFT-G in BCG-vaccinated contacts, and to reserve TST for all others (INMB CA$3.70/contact). The least cost-effective strategy was QFT-G for all contacts, which resulted in an INMB of CA$−11.50 per contact. Assuming a higher prevalence of recent infection, faster conversion of QFT-G, a higher rate of TB reactivation, reduction in utility or greater adherence to preventive treatment resulted in QFT-G becoming cost-effective in more subgroups.
CONCLUSIONS: Selected use of QFT-G appears to be cost-effective if used in a targeted fashion.
Keywords: QuantiFERON TB-Gold; contacts; cost-effectiveness analysis; interferon gamma release assays; tuberculosis
Document Type: Regular Paper
Affiliations: 1: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 2: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 3: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 4: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 5: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publication date: December 1, 2008
The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is for clinical research and epidemiological studies on lung health, including articles on TB, TB-HIV and respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, asthma, COPD, child lung health and the hazards of tobacco and air pollution. Individuals and institutes can subscribe to the IJTLD online or in print – simply email us at [email protected] for details.
The IJTLD is dedicated to understanding lung disease and to the dissemination of knowledge leading to better lung health. To allow us to share scientific research as rapidly as possible, the IJTLD is fast-tracking the publication of certain articles as preprints prior to their publication. Read fast-track articles.
- Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
- Public Health Action
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
Receive new issue alert- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content