Cost-effectiveness of a behavioral intervention for seropositive youth.

An intervention for young people living with HIV (YPLH) was effective in reducing the number of partners of unknown serostatus and the number of unprotected sexual risk acts. In this article, we outline new methods to assess the cost-effectiveness of this intervention. Over a period of 3 months, the intervention would avert an estimated 2.02 new infections per 1,000 YPLH. The cost of mounting the intervention was estimated at US 522 dollars/YPLH, with the cost-effectiveness over a 1-year period being US 103,366 dollars/infection averted. Based on standardized estimates of the cost of treating HIV-positive persons and the adjusted quality of life years lost (10.23 for partners of a mean age of 29 years), the cost utility estimate shows that the treatment costs averted exceed the cost of the intervention. Both the methodology of calculating cost-effectiveness and the cost utility of interventions are important for focusing policy makers, clinicians, community providers, and researchers on prevention for persons living with HIV.