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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Appl Health Econ Health Policy. 2018 Aug;16(4):537–548. doi: 10.1007/s40258-018-0397-3

Table 3.

Procedure volume and estimated normative cost per patient diagnosed and treated under Cambodia’s TB diagnostic algorithms for PLHIV and people with presumptive MDR TB (costs in 2017 U.S. dollars)

Procedure PLHIV Pre-Xpert Algorithm
(no drug resistance)
PLHIV Post-Xpert Algorithm
(no drug resistance)
MDR TB Pre-Xpert Algorithm MDR TB Post-Xpert Algorithm
Clinical diagnostic assessment Procedure Frequency 1 time
Unit Cost US$1.22-US$1.84
Chest x-ray, automatic development Procedure Frequency 1 time
Unit Cost US$2.02-US$2.14
Smear Microscopy – FM Procedure Frequency 3 tests
Unit Cost US$1.56-US$1.93
Xpert® MTB/RIF Procedure Frequency 1 test 1 test
Unit Cost US$33.88-US$37.11 US$33.88-US$37.11
Liquid Culture – MGIT Procedure Frequency 2 tests 2 tests
Unit Cost US$11.63-US$22.83 US$11.63-US$22.83
Follow-on work up for positive MGIT results and MTB identification Procedure Frequency 2 tests 2 tests
Unit Cost US$11.50-US$14.72 US$11.50-US$14.72
Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST) Procedure Frequency 2 tests 2 tests
Unit Cost US$44.26 US$44.26
DIAGNOSTIC TEST COSTS per TB+ patient (assuming perfect accuracy)* US$8.56-US$9.14 US$33.88-US$37.03 US$134.77-US$163.62 US$168.65-US$200.65
Community Directly Observed Therapy Short Course (C-DOTS) Procedure Frequency 6 months 6 months
Unit Cost (per month) US$8.60-US$11.21 US$8.60-US$11.21
First Line Drugs (6 months) Procedure Frequency 6 months 6 months
Unit Cost (per month) US$4.35 US$4.35
Treatment Monitoring Smear Microscopy – ZN Procedure Frequency 3 tests 3 tests
Unit Cost US$1.26 US$1.26
TREATMENT COSTS per TB+ patient (assuming perfect test accuracy) US$81.42-US$97.12 US$81.42-US$97.12
Scenario without perfect test accuracy
False positive rate (1-specificity)1 0% 1%
False negative rate (1-sensitivity)1 27% 12%
Necessary treatment costs per patient due to true positives US$59.43-US$70.90 US$71.65-US$85.47
Unnecessary treatment costs per patient due to false positives US$0.00 US$0.81-US$0.97
Treatment cost increase per patient under post-Xpert algorithm compared to pre-Xpert algorithm (without perfect test accuracy, using assumed sensitivity and specificity) US$13.03-US$15.54
Diagnostic cost increase per patient under post-Xpert algorithm compared to pre-Xpert algorithm (without perfect test accuracy, using assumed sensitivity and specificity) US$25.32-US$27.89
Total increase in diagnosis and treatment costs per patient under post-Xpert algorithm compared to pre-Xpert algorithm (without perfect test accuracy, using assumed sensitivity and specificity) US$40.86-US$40.92
*

Range in costs is due to the variation in unit costs per procedure across study sites.

1.

Based on assumed sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 100% for FM smear and sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 99% for Xpert (11, 27).