Objective: To determine the cost-effectiveness of a school-based tobacco use prevention program.
Design: Based on the previously reported 2-year effectiveness study of Project Towards No Tobacco Use (Project TNT), a decision analysis was conducted to determine the cost-effectiveness of the Project TNT combined intervention. Benefits are measured as life years saved and quality adjusted life years (QALYs) saved, discounted at 3%. Costs are measured as program costs. The cost-effectiveness is quantified as cost per life year saved and cost per QALY saved.
Intervention: A 10-lesson curriculum designed to counteract the social and physical consequences influences of tobacco use was delivered by trained health educators to 7th-grade students in 8 junior high schools. A cohort of 1,234 students participated in the program and were presented with a 2-day booster session in the second year. The effectiveness evaluation was based on a cohort of 770 9th-grade students who participated in the 2-year follow-up survey.
Results: At a program cost of $16,513, the combined intervention prevented 5.2 established smokers at an average cost of $3,176 per established smoker prevented, $4,718 per life year saved, and $3,019 per QALY saved.
Conclusion: The Project TNT combined intervention is highly cost-effective compared with other widely accepted preventive interventions. School-based prevention programs of this type warrant careful consideration by policy makers and program planners.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to understand 1) economic approaches can be and should be applied to evaluate school health education programs; 2) a school-based tobacco use prevention program can be cost-effective and warrant careful consideration by policy makers and program planners; 3) more economic studies should be conducted with other school-based smoking prevention programs, so that more cost-effectiveness information will be available to assist decision-makings
Keywords: Economic Analysis, School-Based Programs
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.