title: The cost-effectiveness of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Results from a modelling study.
abstract: Exposure to bullying affects around 3-5 percent of adolescents in secondary school and is related to various mental health problems. Many different anti-bullying programmes are currently available, but economic evaluations are lacking. The aim of this study is to identify the cost effectiveness of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP). We constructed a decision-tree model for a Swedish secondary school, using a public payer perspective, and retrieved data on costs and effects from the published literature. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis to reflect the uncertainty in the model was conducted. The base-case analysis showed that using the OBPP to reduce the number of victims of bullying costs 131,250 Swedish kronor (€14,470) per victim spared. Compared to a relevant threshold of the societal value of bullying reduction, this indicates that the programme is cost-effective. Using a relevant willingness-to-pay threshold shows that the OBPP is a cost-effective intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Karlstad University, Sweden. Electronic address: linda.beckman@kau.se.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beckman
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Örebro University, Sweden; Health Metrics Unit, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Svensson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002648:Child; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012572:School Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Adolescence; Bullying; Cost-effectiveness; Modelling; Olweus Bullying Prevention Program