TB diagnostic tests: how do we figure out their costs?

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Diagnostic Technology
• Health Economics

Background:

• Tuberculosis remains a significant global health challenge.
• Limited availability of accurate, rapid, and cost-effective diagnostic tests hinders global TB control efforts.
• Existing research predominantly focuses on diagnostic accuracy, with a scarcity of studies on cost and cost-effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a fundamental approach for calculating the costs associated with tuberculosis diagnostic tests.
• To provide templates for data elements and parameters essential for costing analyses.
• To advocate for a standardized methodology for costing tuberculosis diagnostic tests.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on TB diagnostic test costing.
• Development of a framework for cost computation.
• Creation of templates for data collection and analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified a lack of standardized methodologies for evaluating the costs of TB diagnostic tests.
• Proposed a basic approach and templates for TB diagnostic test costing analysis.
• Highlighted the need for improved and generalizable costing analyses.

Conclusions:

• A standardized methodology for costing tuberculosis diagnostic tests is essential.
• Standardized costing will enable robust economic analyses of new diagnostic tools.
• This approach will facilitate evidence-based adoption of new diagnostics, particularly in resource-limited settings.