Sanders' paper is being published alongside a study from researchers at Yale and Harvard with similar results. "These two independent studies provide great external validation for each other emphasizing the robustness of our findings and the value of expanded HIV screening," she said.
Sanders led the study with colleagues from the Palo Alto (Calif) VA Health Care System, Stanford University, and St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto. The study was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs Research and Development Service, the Ontario HIV Treatment Network and the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
For their analysis, the team used a model that accounts for a wide variety of variables, including patient characteristics, the natural history of the disease, the timing of testing and treatments, immunological status, outcomes, medical costs, and quality of life parameters. The data used for the model were drawn from the latest clinical trial results and studies published in the scientific literature.
The model targeted patients who were unaware of their HIV status when they entered the health care system, whether at a hospital, clinic, routine medical or emergency room visit. The model then calculated the incremental costs and benefits across the lifetime of typical patients. As a part of their analysis, the researchers assessed the cost-effectiveness with and without considering the benefits to the sexual partners of the patients.
In the U.S., the commonly accepted threshold for the cost-effectiveness of medical therapies is $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. A cost-effectiveness ratio below $50,000 is usually considered cost-effective
'"/>
Contact: Richard Merritt
Merri006@mc.duke.edu
919-684-4148
Duke University Medical Center
9-Feb-2005