Genotype^®MTBDRplus and Xpert^®MTB/RIF in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and resistant tuberculosis: cost analysis in a tertiary referral hospital

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

The present study sought to assess the mean and activity based cost (ABC) of the laboratory diagnosis for tuberculosis through the application of conventional and molecular techniques-Xpert^®MTB/RIF and Genotype^®MTBDRplus-in a tertiary referral hospital in Brazil.

METHODS:

The mean cost and ABC formed the basis for the cost analysis of the TB laboratory diagnosis.

RESULTS:

The mean cost and ABC were US$ 4.00 and US$ 3.24, respectively, for a bacilloscopy; US$ 6.73 and US$ 5.27 for a Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture; US$ 105.42 and US$ 76.56 for a drug sensitivity test (DST)-proportions method (PM) in LJ; US$ 148.45 and US$ 136.80 for a DST-BACTEC^TM MGIT^TM 960 system; US$ 11.53 and US$ 9.89 for an Xpert^®MTB/RIF; and US$ 84.21 and US$ 48.38 for a Genotype^®MTBDRplus.

CONCLUSIONS:

The mean cost and ABC proved to be good decision-making parameters in the diagnosis of TB and MDR-TB. The effective implementation of algorithms will depend on the conditions at each location.

Keywords:
Tuberculosis; Mycobacteria; Diagnosis; Mean Cost; Activity Based Cost