SynthesisFrontiers in public health2023
How much does HIV self-testing cost in low and middle income countries? A systematic review of evidence from economic studies.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Empowering Vulnerable Communities Through HIV Self-Testing: Post-COVID-19 Strategies for Health Promotion in Sub-Saharan Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- HIV Self-Test Experiences and Implementation Considerations Among Transgender Women in the Philippines: Getting Ready for Scale-Up.AIDS education and prevention : official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education · 2025Article
- Evaluating effectiveness and comparative costs of hepatitis C virus self-testing service delivery models in Vietnam: A cross-sectional study.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of Distributing HIV Self-Tests within Assisted Partner Services in Western Kenya.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Expanding HIV Self-Test Kits via Community Pharmacies in Rwanda Has Improved Availability, but Affordability Remains an Issue.Integrated pharmacy research & practice · 2024Article
- Understanding the cost-utility of implementing HIV self-testing with digital-based supports.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: HIV self-testing (HIVST) has been proposed as an innovative strategy to diagnose human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). While HIVST offers the potential to broaden accessibility of early HIV diagnosis and treatment initiation, this testing strategy incurs additional cost and requires confirmatory testing and treatment. We have conducted the first systematic review to summarize the current economic literature for HIVST in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Design: A search strategy was developed including key terms for HIV, self-testing and cost-effectiveness and was conducted in Medline and Embase databases. Studies were included that reported costs per outcome and included both cost-effectiveness and cost-utility outcome measures. The search strategy identified publications up until August 15, 2023 were included. Abstract and full text screening was conducted and a standardized data abstraction form was used for included studies. Costs are reported in USD, 2020. Results: Our search strategy identified 536 total titles from the search strategy, which were screened down to 25 relevant studies that provided both cost and outcome data on HIVST. There was significant heterogeneity in the HIVST intervention, study population, costs and outcomes reported among included studies. Cost per person tested ranged from $1.09-155. Cost per case diagnosed ranged from $20-1,277. Cost-utility estimates ranged from cost-saving to $1846 per DALY averted. Higher cost-effectiveness estimates were associated with more expensive testing algorithms with increased support for linkage to care and post-test counseling. Conclusion: All studies considered HIVST cost-effective although major drivers were identified included underlying HIV prevalence, testing cost and linkage to care. HIVST is likely to be cost-effective in a LMIC context, however policy makers should be aware of the drivers of cost-effectiveness when implementing HIVST programs as these underlying factors can impact the overall cost-effectiveness of HIVST.
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Registered trials
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.