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Cost-effectiveness of a school-based Tay-Sachs and cystic fibrosis genetic carrier screening program
Emma Warren1, Rob Anderson, Anné L Proos
1Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE), University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Purpose:
To explore the cost-effectiveness of school-based multi-disease genetic carrier screening.
Method:
Decision analysis of the cost-effectiveness of a school-based Tay-Sachs disease and cystic fibrosis genetic carrier screening program, relative to no screening. Data relating to ethnicity profile, test-accepting behavior, and screening program cost were sourced from an existing program in Sydney, Australia.
Results:
Compared to no screening, the incremental cost-effectiveness of the screening program is A dollar 5,834 per additional carrier detected. This cost-effectiveness ratio is most sensitive to changes in genetic test accuracy, and the cost of laboratory assays. The results imply a cost per affected birth avoided of approximately A dollar 530,000 (approximately US dollar 371,000).
Conclusions:
This preconceptional genetic carrier screening program offers comparable cost-effectiveness to prenatal screening programs for cystic fibrosis.
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