Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34209328›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the COVID-19 Asymptomatic Mass Testing Strategy in the North Metropolitan Area of Barcelona.

Francesc López Seguí, Oriol Estrada Cuxart, Oriol Mitjà I Villar, Guillem Hernández Guillamet, Núria Prat Gil, Josep Maria Bonet, Mar Isnard Blanchar, Nemesio Moreno Millan, Ignacio Blanco, Marc Vilar Capella and 5 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 13% 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

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Impact ofFrontiers in public health · 2026
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  13. COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Tests: Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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  18. Article
  19. Impact of Mass Workplace COVID-19 Rapid Testing on Health and Healthcare Resource Savings.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
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

15 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Francesc López SeguíDirectorate for Innovation and Interdisciplinary Cooperation, North Metropolitan Territorial Authority Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-0977-0215
Oriol Estrada CuxartDirectorate for Innovation and Interdisciplinary Cooperation, North Metropolitan Territorial Authority Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Oriol Mitjà I VillarFight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, 08916 Badalona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-3266-8868
Guillem Hernández GuillametCentre de Recerca en Economía de la Salut, Pompeu Fabra University, 08005 Barcelona, Spain.
Núria Prat GilNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-1689-9017
Josep Maria BonetNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Mar Isnard BlancharNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Nemesio Moreno MillanNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Ignacio BlancoNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Marc Vilar CapellaNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Martí Català SabatéComparative Medicine and Bioimage Centre of Catalonia (CMCiB), Fundació Institut d'Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-3308-9905
Anna Aran SoléNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Josep Maria Argimon PallàsPublic Health Secretary, Ministry of Health of Catalonia, 08007 Barcelona, Spain.
Bonaventura ClotetIrsiCaixa-Institut de Recerca de La SIDA, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Jordi Ara Del ReyNorth Metropolitan Primary Care Directorate, Catalan Institute of Health, 08916 Badalona, Spain.
Universitat Pompeu Fabra · ESFundació Lluita contra les Infeccions · ESInstitut d'Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol · ESIrsiCaixa · ESMinistry of Health · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe epidemiological situation generated by COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of applying non-pharmacological measures in the management of the epidemic. Mass screening of the asymptomatic general population has been established as a priority strategy by carrying out diagnostic tests to detect possible cases, isolate contacts, cut transmission chains and thus limit the spread of the virus.

objectiveTo evaluate the economic impact of mass COVID-19 screenings of an asymptomatic population during the first and second wave of the epidemic in Catalonia, Spain. METHODOLOGY: Cost-Benefit Analysis based on the estimated total costs of mass screening versus health gains and associated health costs avoided.

resultsExcluding the value of monetized health, the Benefit-Cost ratio was estimated at 0.45, a low value that would seem to advise against mass screening policies. However, if monetized health is included, the ratio is close to 1.20, reversing the interpretation. In other words, the monetization of health is the critical element that tips the scales in favour of the desirability of screening. Results show that the interventions with the highest return are those that maximize the percentage of positives detected.

conclusionEfficient management of resources for the policy of mass screening in asymptomatic populations can generate high social returns. The positivity rate critically determines its desirability. Likewise, precocity in the detection of cases will cut more transmissions in the chain of contagion and increase the economic return of these interventions. Maximizing the value of resources depends on screening strategies being accompanied by contact-tracing and specific in their focus, targeting, for example, high-risk subpopulations with the highest rate of expected positives.

Indexed as

COVID-19Contact TracingCost-Benefit AnalysisHumansSARS-CoV-2Spainasymptomatic screeningcost benefit analysisCOVID-19economic analysismass testingnon-pharmacological interventionstest-tracking-quarantine

Identifiers

PMID34209328
PMCPMC8297108
OpenAlexW3163812057

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.