Cost estimation when time and resources are limited: the Brief DATCAP

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Substance Abuse Research
• Addiction Treatment

Background:

• The Drug Abuse Treatment Cost Analysis Program (DATCAP) was developed in the early 1990s to guide financial data collection and analysis in addiction treatment programs.
• A need exists for a more efficient version of DATCAP to reduce administrative burden without compromising cost estimate accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Brief DATCAP, a shortened version of the DATCAP instrument.
• To evaluate the feasibility, understandability, and accuracy of cost estimates generated by the Brief DATCAP compared to the original DATCAP.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Brief DATCAP, a condensed version of the original DATCAP.
• Administration of the Brief DATCAP to respondents and collection of feedback on usability.
• Comparison of cost estimates derived from the Brief DATCAP against those from the full DATCAP.

Main Results:

• Respondent feedback indicates the Brief DATCAP is understandable, easier, and quicker to complete.
• Preliminary analysis shows cost estimates from the Brief DATCAP deviate by less than 2% from the full DATCAP estimates.
• The Brief DATCAP demonstrates high fidelity to the original instrument's cost estimation capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The Brief DATCAP offers a viable alternative to the full DATCAP for economic evaluations of addiction interventions.
• This shorter instrument enhances the feasibility and precision of future addiction treatment research.
• The findings support the use of the Brief DATCAP in research and policy-making for addiction treatment programs.