BACKGROUND Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) can effectively manage malaria cases and reduce excess costs brought by misdiagnosis. However, few studies have evaluated the economic value of this technology. The purpose of this study is to systematically review the economic value of RDT in malaria diagnosis. MAIN TEXT A detailed search strategy was developed to identify published economic evaluations that provide evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of malaria RDT. Electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Biosis Previews, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched from Jan 2007 to July 2018. Two researchers screened studies independently based on pre-specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist was applied to evaluate the quality of the studies. Then cost and effectiveness data were extracted and summarized in a narrative way. Fifteen economic evaluations of RDT compared to other diagnostic methods were identified. The overall quality of studies varied greatly but most of them were scored to be of high or moderate quality. Ten of the fifteen studies reported that RDT was likely to be a cost-effective approach compared to its comparisons, but the results could be influenced by the alternatives, study perspectives, malaria prevalence, and the types of RDT. CONCLUSIONS Based on available evidence, RDT had the potential to be more cost-effective than either microscopy or presumptive diagnosis. Further research is also required to draw a more robust conclusion.

中文翻译：

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疟疾快速诊断测试的成本效益分析：系统评价。


背景快速诊断检测（RDT）可以有效管理疟疾病例并减少误诊带来的额外费用。然而，很少有研究评估这项技术的经济价值。本研究的目的是系统评价 RDT 在疟疾诊断中的经济价值。正文 制定了详细的检索策略，以确定已发表的经济评估，这些评估提供了有关疟疾 RDT 成本效益的证据。 2007年1月至2018年7月检索了MEDLINE、EMBASE、Biosis Previews、Web of Science和Cochrane Library等电子数据库。两名研究人员根据预先指定的纳入和排除标准独立筛选研究。应用综合健康经济评估报告标准（CHEERS）清单来评估研究的质量。然后以叙述的方式提取和总结成本和有效性数据。与其他诊断方法相比，确定了 RDT 的 15 项经济评估。研究的总体质量差异很大，但大多数都被评为高质量或中等质量。十五项研究中有十项报告称，与其比较相比，RDT 可能是一种具有成本效益的方法，但结果可能会受到替代方案、研究观点、疟疾患病率和 RDT 类型的影响。结论 根据现有证据，RDT 可能比显微镜检查或推定诊断更具成本效益。还需要进一步研究才能得出更可靠的结论。