How much did it cost to develop and implement an eHealth intervention for a minority children population that overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic?
Contemp Clin Trials
; 125: 107044, 2023 02.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36473682
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
eHealth interventions using active video games (AVGs) offer an alternative method to help children exercise, especially during a pandemic where options are limited. There is limited data on costs associated with developing and implementing such interventions.OBJECTIVES:
We quantified the costs of delivering an eHealth RCT intervention among minority children during COVID-19.METHODS:
We categorized the total trial cost into five subcategories intervention material development, advertising and recruitment, intervention delivery, personnel salaries, and COVID-19-related equipment costs.RESULTS:
The total RCT cost was $1,927,807 (Direct $1,227,903; Indirect $699,904) with three visits required for each participant. The average cost per participant completing the RCT (79 participants/237 visits) was $24,403 (Direct $15,543; Indirect $8860). Due to no-shows and cancellations (198 visits) and dropouts before study completion (61 visits; 56 participants), 496 visits had to be scheduled to ensure complete data collection on 79 participants. If all 496 visits were from participants completing the three-visit protocol, that would correspond to 165 participants, bringing the average cost per participant down to $11,684 (Direct $7442; Indirect $4242). Of the subcategories, intervention material development accounted for the largest portion, followed by personnel salaries. While the direct COVID-19-specific cost constituted <1% of the entire budget, the indirect effects were much larger and significantly impacted the trial.CONCLUSION:
RCTs typically involve significant resources, even more so during a pandemic. Future eHealth intervention investigators should budget and plan accordingly to prepare for unexpected costs such as recruitment challenges to increase flexibility while maximizing the intervention efficacy.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Contexto em Saúde:
1_ASSA2030
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Health_economic_evaluation
Limite:
Child
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Contemp Clin Trials
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article