Cost-effectiveness of strategies to improve HCV screening, linkage-to-care and treatment in remand prison settings in England.
File(s)liv.14628 (1).pdf (808.63 KB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A simplified cascade-of-care may improve screening and treatment uptake among incarcerated individuals. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of traditional and simplified screening and treatment in a London remand prison. METHODS: Using empirical data from Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Wormwood Scrubs, London, we designed a decision tree and Markov transition state model using national average data for HCV screening and treatment for the base-case scenario. This was compared two alternative strategies; (1) general prison population screening and treatment and (2) prioritising screening and treatment among people who inject drugs (PWID) combined with general prison population screening and treatment. Strategies varied the rates of screening (47-90%), linkage-to-care (60-86%) and treatment (21-85%). Cost, utility and disease transition rates were obtained from existing literature. Outcome measures were; screening, treatment and disease-related costs per admitted individual, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for each intervention. All costs and utilities were discounted at a rate of 3.5% per annum. Both univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses have been conducted. RESULTS: In our cohort of 5,239 incarcerated individuals with an estimated chronic HCV prevalence of 2.6%, all strategy ICER values (£3,565-10,300) fell below the national willingness to pay threshold (£30,000). Increased successful treatment (7-54%) was observed by an optimising cascade-of-care. A robust sensitivity analysis identified treatment cost of, QALY for mild liver disease and probability of completing treatment as important factors that impact the ICER value. CONCLUSION: In our remand setting, optimising adherence to the cascade-of-care is cost-effective. Where universal screening is not practical, a stratified approach focused on intensive screening and treatment of PWID also results in increased treatment uptake and is highly cost-effective.
Date Issued
2020-08-04
Date Acceptance
2020-07-20
Citation
Liver International, 2020, 40 (12), pp.2950-2960
ISSN
1478-3223
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Start Page
2950
End Page
2960
Journal / Book Title
Liver International
Volume
40
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Authors. Liver International published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32750192
Subjects
cascade of care
cost effectiveness
hepatitis C (HCV)
people who inject drugs (PWID)
prison
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
1103 Clinical Sciences
Publication Status
Published online
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2020-08-04