Evaluating Real World Health System Resource Utilization and Costs for a Risk-Based Breast Cancer Screening Approach...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Economics
• Public Health

Background:

• Prospective cohort study within the PERSPECTIVE I&I project in Ontario, Canada.
• Evaluated healthcare resource utilization and costs for breast cancer risk assessment and screening.
• Stratified costs by individual risk levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess healthcare costs associated with risk-stratified breast cancer screening.
• To determine the impact of risk stratification on overall healthcare utilization.
• To inform the integration of risk assessment into breast cancer screening pathways.

Main Methods:

• 1997 females aged 50-70 years underwent risk assessment and received personalized screening plans (July 2019-December 2022).
• Risk stratification utilized the CanRisk prediction tool (family history, polygenic risk score, breast density, lifestyle factors).
• Healthcare costs (screening-related and overall) were assessed using the GETCOST macro.

Main Results:

• 83.3% average, 14.4% higher-than-average, 2.3% high-risk participants identified.
• High-risk group had highest mean risk-stratified screening costs (CAD 905 ± 269).
• Average-risk participants had highest mean overall healthcare costs (CAD 6311 ± 19,641).

Conclusions:

• High-risk stratification incurs higher screening costs, but overall healthcare costs are comparable across risk levels.
• Integrating risk stratification into screening pathways is crucial for early breast cancer detection.
• This approach can potentially reduce healthcare system burden and improve patient outcomes.