title: Cost effectiveness of work-site cholesterol screening and intervention programs.
abstract: A study was conducted to evaluate the costs and cost effectiveness of behavioral interventions designed to reduce high serum cholesterol levels in a manufacturing population. A sample of 3202 employees participating in a screening was separated into four intervention groups and a control group. All four intervention groups received an educational program of varying length (1 or 3 months). Two of these groups also received incentives. A second screening was conducted after the interventions to determine effectiveness. The 1-month educational intervention with incentive and the 3-month educational intervention had the lowest costs per participant ($46.28 and $53.09, respectively) and costs per borderline high or high risk participant reducing cholesterol greater than 10% ($285.89 and $351.56) and the greatest effectiveness per dollar spent (0.60 and 0.62). The cost-effectiveness analyses were affected by the impact of the intervention and participation rate. Sensitivity analyses showed that increasing participation had a greater impact on the less cost-effective interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, University of Georgia, Athens 30602.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Edmunson
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: DeJoy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000191:economics*
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol