Parasite Screening and Treatment Among Indochinese Refugees

Abstract

The General Health Policy Model and the Quality of Well-being scale are used to describe a "cost-benefit/utility" evaluation of a screening and treatment program for intestinal parasites among Indochinese refugees in the United States. Cost-benefit/utility analysis subsumes conventional cost-effectiveness by explicitly adding social utility factors to the dollar dimension. Using actual data on parasite prevalence and program costs from one screening project and estimated figures for other factors, this article demonstrates calculation of the cost-benefit/utility outcome measure, dollars per well-year. Dollars per well-year for parasite screening are calculated for a number of examples. Further analysis and final conclusions on the worth of parasite screening and treatment programs await more reliable data for some terms of the developed model. (JAMA1985;253:2229-2235)