NNT defines the number of patients who need to be treated in order to achieve one additional favorable outcome, and NNH is defined as the number of patients who must be treated with a therapy in order to have one additional patient suffer an adverse effect compared with the control treatment. This is the most important thing that should beconsidered before administering a treatment. NNT can also be used to assess the relative benefit or harm in the comparison of intervention versus positive control. If the effect is smaller in the intervention group than that in the control group, NNT should be used; if the effect is bigger in the intervention group than that in the control group, NNH should be used. When comparison is made between an intervention versus placebo, NNT and NNH are absolute outcomes; when an intervention is compared to a positive control, NNT and NNH are relative outcomes. RR or OR or RD may help to judge which comparator has bigger or smaller effect, and whether NNT or NNH should be used.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of health economics of census versus high-risk population screening for tuberculosis in Mianyan city, in order to provide references for the selection of suitable tuberculosis screening method in western region of China. MethodsWe included active tuberculosis patients by residents health screening of 21 villages and towns in Mianyan city from June 2013 to March 2013. Relevant data was analyzed by referencing the National Assessment of Tuberculosis Control Program in 2001-2010. Results184047 residents were screened by tuberculosis census and 128 active tuberculosis patients were diagnosed while 61045 residents were screened by high-risk population screening and 76 active tuberculosis patients were diagnosed. The cost-utility ratio and benefit-cost ratio of tuberculosis census were 6174.17 and 3.84, respectively. The cost-utility ratio and benefit-cost ratio of high risk population screening were 3106.16 and 7.62, respectively. ConclusionHigh-risk population screening has higher cost-utility ratio and benefit-cost ratio than tuberculosis census with higher missed diagnosis. Benefits and harms of tuberculosis detection rate and cost should be fully balanced before tuberculosis screening method were chosen in western underdeveloped region of China.