Screening for Latent Tuberculosis in Healthcare Workers With Quantiferon-Gold Assay: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

May 28, 2007 updated by: Assuta Hospital Systems

The ministry of health in Israel requires all health-care workers to undergo screening for latent Tuberculosis infection (LTBI) prior to starting work. This is based on the Mantoux skin test, which is notoriously unreliable.

In recent years, more specific and sensitive tests based on interferon-gamma secretion to TB antigens have come to market, and most current evidence shows that many mantoux positive persons do not have LTBI. Quantiferon-GOLD is one of these assays.

In this prospective study, we will draw blood for the Quantiferon-GOLD assay in parallel to conventional testing, and perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of the cost of the investigation and treatment of LTBI in health-care workers.

We hypothesize that in spite of the cost of screening healthcare workers with Quantiferon-GOLD tests, the reduction in need for LTBI treatment and associated costs will render the test cost-effective.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

150

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Israel
      • Rehovot, Israel
        • Recruiting
        • Community Tuberculosis service

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Health care worker undergoing screening for LTBI

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous tuberculosis or treatment for LTBI
  • Immunosuppressed due to drug treatment, HIV, organ transplant
  • Recent TB contacts

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Defined Population
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Assuta Hospital Systems

Collaborators

Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: David Shitrit, MD, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 19, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 19, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

March 20, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 30, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 28, 2007

Last Verified

May 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2006055

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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