Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28053362›Full record

ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2017

Cost-effectiveness of screening for active cases of tuberculosis in Flanders, Belgium.

G Suzanne A Smit, Ludwig Apers, Wouter Arrazola de Onate, Philippe Beutels, Pierre Dorny, An-Marie Forier, Kristien Janssens, Jean Macq, Ruud Mak, Sandrina Schol and 3 more

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Cost-effectiveness of active tuberculosis screening among high-risk populations in low tuberculosis incidence countries: a systematic review, 2008 to 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024
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  8. Pooling Sputum Samples for Efficient Mass Tuberculosis Screening in Prisons.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

G Suzanne A SmitDepartment of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium .
Ludwig ApersInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium .
Wouter Arrazola de OnateFlemish Association for Respiratory Health and Tuberculosis Control, Brussels, Belgium .
Philippe BeutelsCentre for Health Economics Research & Modelling Infectious Diseases, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium .
Pierre DornyInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium .
An-Marie ForierAgency for Care and Health, Government of Flanders, Brussels, Belgium .
Kristien JanssensFlemish Association for Respiratory Health and Tuberculosis Control, Brussels, Belgium .
Jean MacqInstitute of Health and Society, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium .
Ruud MakAgency for Care and Health, Government of Flanders, Brussels, Belgium .
Sandrina ScholFlemish Association for Respiratory Health and Tuberculosis Control, Brussels, Belgium .
Dirk WildemeerschAgency for Care and Health, Government of Flanders, Brussels, Belgium .
Niko SpeybroeckInstitute of Health and Society, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium .
Brecht DevleesschauwerScientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), Department of Public Health and Surveillance, Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat 14, 1050 Brussels, Belgium .
Flemish Government · BEInstituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde · BEUCLouvain · BEGhent University · BEUniversity of Antwerp · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the cost-effectiveness of the tuberculosis screening activities currently funded by the Flemish government in Flanders, Belgium.

methodsAfter estimating the expenses for 2013-2014 of each of nine screening components - which include high-risk groups, contacts and people who are seeking tuberculosis consultation at a centre for respiratory health care - and the associated costs per active case of tuberculosis identified between 2007 and 2014, we compared the cost-effectiveness of each component. The applied perspective was that of the Flemish government.

findingsThe three most cost-effective activities appeared to be the follow-up of asylum seekers who were found to have abnormal X-rays in initial screening at the Immigration Office, systematic screening in prisons and contact investigation. The mean costs of these activities were 5564 (95% uncertainty interval, UI: 3791-8160), 11 603 (95% UI: 9010-14 909) and 13 941 (95% UI: 10 723-18 201) euros (€) per detected active case, respectively. The periodic or supplementary initial screening of asylum seekers and the screening of new immigrants from high-incidence countries - which had corresponding costs of €51 813 (95% UI: 34 855-76 847), €126 236 (95% UI: 41 984-347 822) and €418 359 (95% UI: 74 975-1 686 588) - appeared much less cost-effective. Between 2007 and 2014, no active tuberculosis cases were detected during screening in the juvenile detention centres.

conclusionIn Flanders, tuberculosis screening in juvenile detention centres and among new immigrants and the periodic or supplementary initial screening of asylum seekers appear to be relatively expensive ways of detecting people with active tuberculosis.

Indexed as

PrisonersRefugeesBelgiumContact TracingCost-Benefit AnalysisHealth ExpendituresHumansMass ScreeningRisk FactorsTuberculosisUndocumented Immigrants

Identifiers

PMID28053362
PMCPMC5180339
OpenAlexW2564570897

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.