The following is a summary of “Estimated Lifetime Quality-Adjusted Life-Years Lost Due to Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Trichomoniasis in the United States in 2018,” published in the April 2023 issue of Infectious Diseases by Li, et al.

A comprehensive evaluation of the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) lost due to chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis in the United States has not been conducted.

For a study, researchers adapted a previous probability-tree model to estimate the average number of lifetime QALYs lost due to genital chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis per incident infection and at the population level by sex and age group. In addition, they conducted multivariate sensitivity analyses to address uncertainty around key parameter values.

The estimated total discounted lifetime QALYs lost for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis infections acquired in 2018 were 1,541 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 186–6,358) and 111,872 (95% UI, 29,777–267,404) for men and women, respectively, for chlamydia; 989 (95% UI, 127–3720) and 12,112 (95% UI, 2,410–33,895) for gonorrhea; and 386 (95% UI, 30–1,851) and 4576 (95% UI, 13–30,355) for trichomoniasis. The total QALYs lost were highest among women aged 15–24 with chlamydia. Estimates of QALYs lost were highly sensitive to the disutilities (health losses) of infections and sequelae and the duration of infections and chronic sequelae for chlamydia and gonorrhea in women.

Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis caused substantial health losses in the United States, particularly gonorrhea and chlamydia among women. The estimates of lifetime QALYs lost per infection could assist in prioritizing prevention policies and inform cost-effectiveness analyses of sexually transmitted infection interventions.

Source: academic.oup.com/jid/article/227/8/1007/7046023