Costs of Tuberculosis at 3 Treatment Centers, Canada, 2010–2016
Jonathon R. Campbell, Placide Nsengiyumva, Leslie Chiang, Frances Jamieson, Hadeel Khadawardi, Henry K.-H. Mah, Olivia Oxlade, Hayden Rasberry, Elizabeth Rea, Kamila Romanowski, Natasha F. Sabur, Beate Sander, Aashna Uppal, James C. Johnston, Kevin Schwartzman, Sarah K. Brode
Abstract
We estimated costs of managing different forms of tuberculosis (TB) across Canada by conducting a retrospective chart review and cost assessment of patients treated for TB infection, drug-susceptible TB (DS TB), isoniazid-resistant TB, or multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) at 3 treatment centers. We included 90 patients each with TB infection and DS TB, 71 with isoniazid-resistant TB, and 62 with MDR TB. Median per-patient costs for TB infection (in 2020 Canadian dollars) were $804 (interquartile range [IQR] $587-$1,205), for DS TB $12,148 (IQR $4,388-$24,842), for isoniazid-resistant TB $19,319 (IQR $7,117-$41,318), and for MDR TB $119,014 (IQR $80,642-$164,015). Compared with costs for managing DS TB, costs were 11.1 (95% CI 9.1-14.3) times lower for TB infection, 1.7 (95% CI 1.3-2.1) times higher for isoniazid-resistant TB, and 8.1 (95% CI 6.1-10.6) times higher for MDR TB. Broadened TB infection treatment could avert high costs associated with managing TB disease.