Premium
Cost‐effectiveness of prenatal screening for thalassaemia in Hong Kong
Author(s) -
Leung K. Y.,
Lee C. P.,
Tang M. H. Y.,
Lau E. T.,
Ng L. K. L.,
Lee Y. P.,
Chan H. Y.,
Ma E. S. K.,
Chan Vivian
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.1035
Subject(s) - medicine , prenatal diagnosis , pediatrics , fetus , obstetrics , prenatal screening , cost effectiveness , pregnancy , genetics , biology , risk analysis (engineering)
Objectives To determine the cost effectiveness of a universal prenatal screening program for α‐ and β‐thalassaemia. Methods We retrospectively reviewed our program from 1998 to 2002, and calculated the direct and indirect costs of various components. Results 18 936 women were screened at our prenatal clinic and 153 couples were subsequently referred to our Prenatal Diagnostic Centre for counselling and further investigations. In addition, there were 238 tertiary referrals and 157 self‐referrals. After investigations, 84 fetuses were at risk of β‐thalassaemia major/β‐E thalassaemia, 19 of them were affected and 18 were aborted. The total expenditure on our program (HK$10.0 million) would be less than the postnatal service costs (HK$40.4 million) for 18β‐thalassaemia major fetuses if they were born. Of 361 women at risk of carrying a homozygous α 0 ‐thalassaemia fetus, 311 (86.2%) opted for the indirect approach (using serial ultrasound examinations to exclude Hb Bart's disease), and 76 (24.5%) subsequently underwent an invasive test for a definitive diagnosis. The sensitivity and false positive rate of this indirect approach was 100.0% and 2.9% respectively. Conclusion It is cost effective to run a universal prenatal screening program in an area where both β‐thalassaemia and α‐thalassaemia are prevalent. The indirect approach can effectively avoid an invasive test in unaffected pregnancies. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.