Cost-utility of repeated screening for Chlamydia trachomatis.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the cost-effectiveness of repeated screening for chlamydia trachomatis at various time intervals compared to one-off screening of Dutch young adults.


METHODS
We used a dynamic model to fully take the spread of the disease over time in the population into account, with data being used gathered within the context of a recently performed pilot study in The Netherlands. The screening frequencies analyzed were: every year, every 2 years, every 5 years, and every 10 years. The strategies were compared in terms of incremental cost-effectiveness, expressed as the net costs per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY).


RESULTS
For all interval strategies, with the exception of screening every year, incremental cost-effectiveness stays below the informal Dutch threshold of euro20,000 per QALY.


CONCLUSIONS
From a health-economic point of view, for the Dutch situation, we estimated screening every 2 years as the optimal strategy among the options investigated.
de Vries
Robin
R
Groningen University Institute for Drug Exploration/University of Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, Groningen, The Netherlands.
van Bergen
Jan E A M
JE
de Jong-van den Berg
Lolkje T W
LT
Postma
Maarten J
MJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics*; D018803:Models, Economic; D009426:Netherlands; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years