Background/Aim

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) continues to pose significant public health concerns with approximately 44% of chronically infected Canadians undiagnosed. The current HCV screening in Canada is a two-step diagnosis pathway consisting of anti-HCV testing and HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) testing. The introduction of HCV point-of-care assays, such as the Xpert HCV viral load finger-stick assay, can facilitate HCV RNA diagnosis during a single visit and provide quick linkage to care. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of HCV point-of-care testing compared with current HCV screening strategies for injection drug users (IDUs) from a Canadian provincial Ministry of Health perspective.

Methods

A state-transition model based on published literature was developed to compare HCV point-of-care assay with the standard-of-care blood screening for a one-time HCV screening and treatment program. It adopted a lifetime time horizon and included health states related to treatment, fibrosis stages, and advanced liver disease clinical states. Outcomes were expressed in costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the model.

Results

HCV point-of-care assay generated an additional 0.035 QALYs/person at a cost reduction of $21.15 compared with the standard-of-care screening. The results were the most sensitive to the specificity of HCV point-of-care assay.

Conclusions

The implementation of HCV point-of-care screening in Canada is likely to be cost-saving for IDUs. Early detection and treatment of undiagnosed individuals can prolong people’s life span and save healthcare costs associated with HCV-related complications.