Cost-effectiveness of naloxone kits in secondary schools.
Drug Alcohol Depend
; 192: 352-361, 2018 11 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30321745
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
We seek to identify conditions under which a plan by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to equip high schools with naloxone kits would be cost-effective.METHODS:
We developed a decision-analytic model to evaluate the costs, benefits, and cost-effectiveness of a school-based naloxone program. We estimated model inputs from the medical literature and used Toronto-specific sources whenever available. We present our results varying both the expected total number of opioid overdoses per year across all 112 TDSB high schools and the effectiveness of a school-based naloxone program in reducing mortality.RESULTS:
A school naloxone program likely costs less than CAD$50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained if the overdose frequency is at least once each year and it reduces opioid poisoning mortality by at least 40% (from 10% to <6.0%) or if the overdose frequency is at least two per year and the program reduces mortality by at least 20% (from 10% to <8.0%). The results are sensitive to the intensity and cost of staff training, the lifetime costs and life-expectancy of overdose survivors, and the probability of an overdose being fatal in the absence of a school naloxone program.CONCLUSIONS:
School naloxone programs are relatively inexpensive, but that does not ensure that they are a cost-effective use of resources. While potentially cost-effective, if the risk of an overdose in a Toronto high school is low, then other programs aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of students may be better use of limited resources.Palavras-chave
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Instituições Acadêmicas
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Análise Custo-Benefício
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Overdose de Drogas
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Naloxona
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Antagonistas de Entorpecentes
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article