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Background Screening is an important part of preventive medicine. Ideally, screening tools identify patients early enough to provide treatment and avoid or reduce symptoms and other consequences, improving health outcomes of the population at a reasonable cost. Cost-effectiveness analyses combine the expected benefits and costs of interventions and can be used to assess the value of screening tools. Objective This review seeks to evaluate the latest cost-effectiveness analyses on screening tools to identify the current challenges encountered and potential methods to overcome them. Methods A systematic literature search of EMBASE and MEDLINE identified cost-effectiveness analyses of screening tools published in 2017. Data extracted included the population, disease, screening tools, comparators, perspective, time horizon, discounting, and outcomes. Challenges and methodological suggestions were narratively synthesized. Results Four key categories were identified: screening pathways, pre-symptomatic disease, treatment outcomes, and non-health benefits. Not all studies included treatment outcomes; 15 studies (22%) did not include treatment following diagnosis. Quality-adjusted life years were used by 35 (51.4%) as the main outcome. Studies that undertook a societal perspective did not report non-health benefits and costs consistently. Two important challenges identified were (i) estimating the sojourn time, i.e., the time between when a patient can be identified by screening tests and when they would have been identified due to symptoms, and (ii) estimating the treatment effect and progression rates of patients identified early. Conclusions To capture all important costs and outcomes of a screening tool, screening pathways should be modeled including patient treatment. Also, false positive and false negative patients are likely to have important costs and consequences and should be included in the analysis. As these patients are difficult to identify in regular data sources, common treatment patterns should be used to determine how these patients are likely to be treated. It is important that assumptions are clearly indicated and that the consequences of these assumptions are tested in sensitivity analyses, particularly the assumptions of independence of consecutive tests and the level of patient and provider compliance to guidelines and sojourn times. As data is rarely available regarding the progression of undiagnosed patients, extrapolation from diagnosed patients may be necessary.

No consensus exists on whether preoperative blood transfusions are beneficial in patients with sickle-cell disease. We assessed whether perioperative complication rates would be altered by preoperative transfusion. We did a multicentre, randomised trial. Eligible patients were aged at least 1 year, had haemoglobin SS or Sβ0thalassaemia sickle-cell-disease subtypes, and were scheduled for low-risk or medium-risk operations. Patients were randomly assigned no transfusion or transfusion no more than 10 days before surgery. The primary outcome was the proportion of clinically important complications between randomisation and 30 days after surgery. Analysis was by intention to treat. 67 (96%) of 70 enrolled patients—33 no preoperative transfusion and 34 preoperative transfusion—were assessed. 65 (97%) of 67 patients had the haemoglobin SS subtype and 54 (81%) were scheduled to undergo medium-risk surgery. 13 (39%) of 33 patients in the no-preoperative-transfusion group had clinically important complications, compared with five (15%) in the preoperative-transfusion group (p=0·023). Of these, 10 (30%) and one (3%), respectively, had serious adverse events. The unadjusted odds ratio of clinically important complications was 3·8 (95% CI 1·2–12·2, p=0·027). 10 (91%) of 11 serious adverse events were acute chest syndrome (nine in the no-preoperative-transfusion group and one in the preoperative-transfusion group). Duration of hospital stay and readmission rates did not differ between study groups. Preoperative transfusion was associated with decreased perioperative complications in patients with sickle-cell disease in this trial. This approach could, therefore, be beneficial for patients with the haemoglobin SS subtype who are scheduled to undergo low-risk and medium-risk surgeries. NHS Blood and Transplant.

Premji and McNeil examine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of postpartum depression (PPD) screening. Screening was effective at directing resources to Albertans in need; patients screened at high risk of PPD were nearly 4 times more likely to receive a diagnosis for PPD than those who were not screened. At a population level, screening identified an additional 813 patients with PPD relative to not screening, and was considered cost-effective. Although the Task Force made a key assumption that, as part of usual care, providers routinely inquire about and are attentive to maternal mental health and well-being, our research did not have to make this assumption; we were able to test it directly.

Sole ulcers, a common cause of lameness is the costliest non-infectious foot lesion in dairy cows and one of the most prevalent non-infectious foot lesions in freestall housing systems. Costs associated with sole ulcers are treatment costs, plus increased labor and decreased productivity and fertility. Routine hoof trimming is part of a strategy to manage sole ulcers. However, hoof trimming strategies differ among farms. The two most frequently applied strategies are: 1) partial herd hoof trimming with a 2-month interval between trims; and 2) whole herd hoof trimming at 6-month intervals. A Markov model was developed to investigate whether every 2 months partial herd hoof trimming or whole herd hoof trimming every 6 months was the most cost-effective strategy to avoid costs associated with sole ulcers. In this model, the net benefits for a 100-cow herd and the average productive life span of a dairy cow in intensive dairy systems of 3 years were evaluated. Partial herd hoof trimming was the most cost-effective strategy 100% of the time compared to whole herd hoof trimming, with a difference in 3-year net benefits of US $4,337 (95% CI: US$ 2,713—US$5,830). Based on sensitivity analyses, variables that were the sources of the biggest uncertainty in the model were herd size, the probability of being trimmed in a partial herd trim, and the prevalence of sole ulcers. To further investigate the impacts of herd size and of probability of being trimmed, various scenario analyses were conducted. With increasing herd size, the difference in net benefits in favor of partial herd hoof trimming increased even more. Scenario analyses about the probability of getting trimmed all indicated that targeted intervention increased the difference in net benefits in favor of partial herd hoof trimming. However, if the selection of cows to be trimmed in a partial herd trim was random, the whole herd hoof trimming strategy became cost-effective. Therefore, targeted selection and early intervention are necessary to decrease costs associated with sole ulcers.

Background: Liquid biopsy (LB) can detect actionable genomic alterations in plasma circulating tumor circulating tumor DNA beyond tissue testing (TT) alone in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We estimated the cost-effectiveness of adding LB to TT in the Canadian healthcare system. Methods: A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using a decision analytic Markov model from the Canadian public payer (Ontario) perspective and a 2-year time horizon in patients with treatment-naïve stage IV non-squamous NSCLC and ⩽10 pack-year smoking history. LB was performed using the comprehensive genomic profiling Guardant360™ assay. Standard of care TT for each participating institution was performed. Costs and outcomes of molecular testing by LB + TT were compared to TT alone. Transition probabilities were calculated from the VALUE trial (NCT03576937). Sensitivity analyses were undertaken to assess uncertainty in the model. Results: Use of LB + TT identified actionable alterations in more patients, 68.5 versus 52.7% with TT alone. Use of the LB + TT strategy resulted in an incremental cost savings of $3065 CAD per patient (95% CI, 2195–3945) and a gain in quality-adjusted life-years of 0.02 (95% CI, 0.01–0.02) versus TT alone. More patients received chemo-immunotherapy based on TT with higher overall costs, whereas more patients received targeted therapy based on LB + TT with net cost savings. Major drivers of cost-effectiveness were drug acquisition costs and prevalence of actionable alterations. Conclusion: The addition of LB to TT as initial molecular testing of clinically selected patients with advanced NSCLC did not increase system costs and led to more patients receiving appropriate targeted therapy.

Depression is a significant cause of morbidity. Many patients have communicated an interest in non-pharmacological therapies to their general practitioners. Systematic reviews of acupuncture and counselling for depression in primary care have identified limited evidence. The aim of this study was to evaluate acupuncture versus usual care and counselling versus usual care for patients who continue to experience depression in primary care. In a randomised controlled trial, 755 patients with depression (Beck Depression Inventory BDI-II score ≥ 20) were recruited from 27 primary care practices in the North of England. Patients were randomised to one of three arms using a ratio of 2.2.1 to acupuncture (302), counselling (302), and usual care alone (151). The primary outcome was the difference in mean Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scores at 3 months with secondary analyses over 12 months follow-up. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. PHQ-9 data were available for 614 patients at 3 months and 572 patients at 12 months. Patients attended a mean of ten sessions for acupuncture and nine sessions for counselling. Compared to usual care, there was a statistically significant reduction in mean PHQ-9 depression scores at 3 months for acupuncture (-2.46, 95% CI -3.72 to -1.21) and counselling (-1.73, 95% CI -3.00 to -0.45), and over 12 months for acupuncture (-1.55, 95% CI -2.41 to -0.70) and counselling (-1.50, 95% CI -2.43 to -0.58). Differences between acupuncture and counselling were not significant. In terms of limitations, the trial was not designed to separate out specific from non-specific effects. No serious treatment-related adverse events were reported. In this randomised controlled trial of acupuncture and counselling for patients presenting with depression, after having consulted their general practitioner in primary care, both interventions were associated with significantly reduced depression at 3 months when compared to usual care alone. Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN63787732 Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

FoodRx is a 12-month healthy food prescription incentive program for people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and experiences of household food insecurity. In this study, we aimed to explore potential users' prospective acceptability (acceptability prior to program use) of the design and delivery of the FoodRx incentive and identify factors influencing prospective acceptability. We used a qualitative descriptive approach and purposive sampling to recruit individuals who were interested or uninterested in using the FoodRx incentive. Semi-structured interviews were guided by the theoretical framework of acceptability, and corresponding interview transcripts were analysed using differential qualitative analysis guided by the socioecological model. Individuals living in Alberta, Canada. In total, fifteen adults with T2DM and experiences of household food insecurity. People who were interested in using the FoodRx incentive ( 10) perceived it to be more acceptable than those who were uninterested ( 5). We identified four themes that captured factors that influenced users' prospective acceptability: (i) participants' confidence, views and beliefs of FoodRx design and delivery and its future use (intrapersonal), (ii) the shopping routines and roles of individuals in participants' social networks (interpersonal), (iii) access to and experience with food retail outlets (community), and (iv) income and food access support to cope with the cost of living (policy). Future healthy food prescription programs should consider how factors at all levels of the socioecological model influence program acceptability and use these data to inform program design and delivery.

Unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA) are increasingly being treated by endovascular coiling as opposed to open surgical clipping. Unfortunately, endovascular coiling imparts an approximate 25% recanalization rate, leading to additional procedures and increased rupture risk. While a new health technology innovation (HTI) that reduces this recanalization rate would benefit patients, few advancements have been made. We aim to determine whether cost-effectiveness has been a barrier to HTI. A probabilistic Markov model was constructed from the healthcare payer perspective to compare standard endovascular treatment of UIA to standard treatment plus the addition of a HTI adjunct. Costs were measured in 2018 USD and health outcomes were measured in quality-adjusted life-years (QALY). In the base case, the HTI was a theoretical mesenchymal stem cell therapy which reduced the aneurysm recanalization rate by 50% and cost $10,000 per procedure. All other model inputs were derived from the published scientific literature. Based on the model results, we found that for a given HTI price (y) and relative risk reduction of aneurysm recanalization (x), the HTI was always cost-effective if the following equation was satisfied: y ≤ 20268 ∙ x, using a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000 per QALY. The uncertainty surrounding whether an aneurysm would recanalize was a significant driver within the model. When the uncertainty around the risk of aneurysm recanalization was eliminated, the 10-year projected additional benefit to the United States healthcare system was calculated to be $113,336,994. Cost-effectiveness does not appear to be a barrier to innovation in reducing the recanalization rate of UIA treated by endovascular coil embolization. Our model can now be utilized by academia and industry to accentuate economically feasible HTI and by healthcare payers to calculate their maximum willingness-to-pay for a new technology. Our results also indicate that predicting a patient's baseline risk of aneurysm recanalization is a critical area of future research.

Implementation of self-management support in traditional primary care settings has proved difficult, encouraging the development of alternative models which actively link to community resources. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common condition usually diagnosed in the presence of other co-morbidities. This trial aimed to determine the effectiveness of an intervention to provide information and telephone-guided access to community support versus usual care for patients with stage 3 CKD. In a pragmatic, two-arm, patient level randomised controlled trial 436 patients with a diagnosis of stage 3 CKD were recruited from 24 general practices in Greater Manchester. Patients were randomised to intervention (215) or usual care (221). Primary outcome measures were health related quality of life (EQ-5D health questionnaire), blood pressure control, and positive and active engagement in life (heiQ) at 6 months. At 6 months, mean health related quality of life was significantly higher for the intervention group (adjusted mean difference = 0.05; 95% CI = 0.01, 0.08) and blood pressure was controlled for a significantly greater proportion of patients in the intervention group (adjusted odds-ratio = 1.85; 95% CI = 1.25, 2.72). Patients did not differ significantly in positive and active engagement in life. The intervention group reported a reduction in costs compared with control. An intervention to provide tailored information and telephone-guided access to community resources was associated with modest but significant improvements in health related quality of life and better maintenance of blood pressure control for patients with stage 3 CKD compared with usual care. However, further research is required to identify the mechanisms of action of the intervention. Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN45433299.