Five‐Hundred Life‐Saving Interventions and Their Cost‐Effectiveness

TLDR

Life‑saving interventions are defined as any behavioral or technological strategy that reduces premature death in a target population, and cost‑effectiveness is measured as the net resource cost per year of life saved. To improve comparability of cost‑effectiveness ratios from diverse methods, we established fixed definitional goals and revised published estimates to meet these goals. We collected publicly available economic analyses of life‑saving interventions in the United States. Among 587 interventions, costs ranged from cost‑saving to over $10 billion per life‑year saved, with a median cost of $42,000 per life‑year; medical interventions averaged $19,000, injury reduction $48,000, and toxin control $2.8 million per life‑year, and cost/life‑year ratios and references for over 500 interventions are provided.

Abstract

We gathered information on the cost‐effectiveness of life‐saving interventions in the United States from publicly available economic analyses. “Life‐saving interventions” were defined as any behavioral and/or technological strategy that reduces the probability of premature death among a specified target population. We defined cost‐effectiveness as the net resource costs of an intervention per year of life saved. To improve the comparability of cost‐effectiveness ratios arrived at with diverse methods, we established fixed definitional goals and revised published estimates, when necessary and feasible, to meet these goals. The 587 interventions identified ranged from those that save more resources than they cost, to those costing more than 10 billion dollars per year of life saved. Overall, the median intervention costs $42,000 per life‐year saved. The median medical intervention costs $19,000/life‐year; injury reduction $48,000/life‐year; and toxin control $2,800,000/life‐year. Cost/life‐year ratios and bibliographic references for more than 500 life‐saving interventions are provided.