Health and Economic Impact of COVID-19 Surveillance Testing in Seattle Homeless Shelters: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

COVID-19 surveillance in congregate settings is important to mitigating disease, but the health and economic impact of testing remains unclear.

Methods

The authors developed a Markov model to project the cost-utility of COVID-19 testing strategies in homeless shelters from the healthcare payer and societal perspective over 1 year. Model inputs utilized data from residents aged ≥18 years across 23 Seattle shelters from January 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021. No in-shelter surveillance was compared with scenarios of 2 COVID-19 testing strategies implemented monthly: polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing and rapid antigen testing; scenarios in which only PCR testing was available were also evaluated. The primary health outcome was quality-adjusted life years. Intervent

SUBMITTER: Cox SN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11889550 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature