[EVALUATION OF THE MEDICAL AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF NON-INVASIVE PRENATAL TESTING IN MOSCOW]

Area of Science:

• Medical diagnostics
• Genetics
• Health economics

Context:

• Prenatal screening for fetal chromosomal abnormalities (CA) is crucial for maternal and child health.
• Moscow's healthcare system faces challenges in optimizing prenatal diagnostic pathways.
• Evaluating new technologies like non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is essential for improving outcomes.

Purpose:

• To assess the medical and economic efficiency of using non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) as a second-line diagnostic tool for fetal CA in pregnant women in Moscow.
• To compare the outcomes and costs of standard prenatal screening versus NIPT-integrated screening for high and medium-risk pregnancies.
• To analyze direct medical costs and indirect social costs associated with both screening approaches.

Summary:

• Standard screening resulted in 111 births with CA, while NIPT-integrated screening led to only 26.
• Implementing NIPT increased direct costs by 299.97 million rubles but reduced annual indirect costs from 61.19 to 28.95 million rubles.
• The economic benefits of reduced indirect costs are projected to outweigh the initial direct cost increase from the 13th year onwards.

Impact:

• NIPT enhances the detection rates of fetal chromosomal abnormalities.
• Integrating NIPT into prenatal diagnostics offers significant long-term economic advantages by reducing indirect societal costs.
• Accurate economic efficiency assessments require the inclusion of indirect cost analysis.