Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Feb 2012
Review Comparative StudyThe cost effectiveness of Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.
There is wide variation in the techniques deployed to diagnose tuberculosis in the UK, with little agreement on which tools or strategies are cost effective. This analysis therefore comprehensively evaluated the cost effectiveness of currently available diagnostic strategies for routine diagnosis of TB in the NHS. ⋯ The cost effective strategy at threshold of £20,000 per QALY was a strategy using only sputum microscopy and culture routinely, meaning Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques are not cost effective at baseline. When the prevalence of tuberculosis was increased, however, nucleic acid amplification became cost effective at the same threshold. Aside from the prevalence, the results were shown to be robust. At low tuberculosis prevalence, Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques may not be cost effective but their potential in higher prevalence situations is considerable.