Unit Costs
Use these tools to apply economic costs to each unit of resources consumed or saved as a result of the intervention or treatment.
Monetary Conversion Factors for Economic Evaluations of Substance Use Disorders
Authors: Kathryn E. McCollister, Xuan Yang, Bisma Sayed, Michael T. French, Jared A. Leff, and Bruce R. Schackman
This publication includes a comprehensive list of monetary conversion factors for a wide range of consequences, services, and outcomes. Clinicians, researchers, and policy makers may find these resources valuable for grants and trial design or economic evaluations of interventions to treat substance use disorders. There are more than 60 unique measures featured.
Criminal justice measures for economic data harmonization in substance use disorder research
Authors: Kathryn E. McCollister, Xuan Yang, Sean M. Murphy, Jared A. Leff, Richard A. Kronmal, Heidi M. Crane, Redonna K. Chandler, Faye S. Taxman, Daniel J. Feaster, Lisa R. Metsch, William E. Cunningham, Frederick L. Altice, and Bruce R. Schackman
This study developed a list of recommended criminal-legal measures to support economic data harmonization opportunities in substance use disorder (SUD) research. Baseline data from six NIDA-funded Seek, Test, Treat and Retain (STTR) intervention studies that enrolled HIV-infected/at-risk individuals with SUDs were assessed.
Four measures that are typically feasible and appropriate for estimating the economic consequences of criminal-legal activity associated with SUD were identified: number of arrests; number of convictions; days of incarceration; and times committing criminal offenses, by type of offense. Additional recommendations are given on how to account for extreme variation in criminal-legal activity and allow for more meaningful comparisons across studies.
Harmonizing healthcare and other resource measures for evaluating economic costs in substance use disorder research
Authors: Michelle A. Papp, Jared A. Leff, Sean M. Murphy, April Yang, Heidi M. Crane, Lisa R. Metsch, Carlos Del Rio, Daniel J. Feaster, Josiah D. Rich, Bruce R. Schackman, and Kathryn E. McCollister
This study developed a list of recommended healthcare and other resource utilization measures to support economic data harmonization in substance use disorder (SUD) research. Baseline data featuring self-reported measures from three NIDA-funded Seek, Test, Treat and Retain (STTR) intervention studies that enrolled HIV-infected/at-risk individuals with SUDs were assessed.
Measures that are typically feasible and appropriate for informing healthcare sector and societal costs associated with SUD were identified: ED visits; inpatient hospital and residential facility stays; outpatient encounters; days experiencing SUD problems; and participant spending on substances. Additional recommendations are given on how to collect such information to increase the validity of economic estimates.