Open AccessProposal for the Development of a Standardized Protocol for Assessing the Economic Costs of HIV Prevention Interventions
Author(s) -
Steven D. Pinkerton,
Cynthia Pearson,
Susan Eachus,
Karina M. Berg,
Richard M. Grimes
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.162
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1944-7884
pISSN - 1525-4135
DOI - 10.1097/qai.0b013e3181605a98
Subject(s) - comparability , protocol (science) , psychological intervention , data collection , cost effectiveness , risk analysis (engineering) , economic evaluation , cost–benefit analysis , intervention (counseling) , cost database , public health , computer science , medicine , business , alternative medicine , nursing , political science , statistics , mathematics , pathology , combinatorics , database , law
Maximizing our economic investment in HIV prevention requires balancing the costs of candidate interventions against their effects and selecting the most cost-effective interventions for implementation. However, many HIV prevention intervention trials do not collect cost information, and those that do use a variety of cost data collection methods and analysis techniques. Standardized cost data collection procedures, instrumentation, and analysis techniques are needed to facilitate the task of assessing intervention costs and to ensure comparability across intervention trials. This article describes the basic elements of a standardized cost data collection and analysis protocol and outlines a computer-based approach to implementing this protocol. Ultimately, the development of such a protocol would require contributions and "buy-in" from a diverse range of stakeholders, including HIV prevention researchers, cost-effectiveness analysts, community collaborators, public health decision makers, and funding agencies.