Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review

Farhad Khalili; Behzad Najafi; Fariborz Mansour-Ghanaei; Mahmood Yousefi; Hadi Abdollahzad; Ali Motlagh

doi:10.2147/RMHP.S262171

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review

Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2020 Sep 10:13:1499-1512. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S262171. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Farhad Khalili¹, Behzad Najafi², Fariborz Mansour-Ghanaei³, Mahmood Yousefi⁴, Hadi Abdollahzad⁵, Ali Motlagh⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Economics, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
² Iranian Center of Excellence in Health Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
³ Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
⁴ Department of Health Economics, Iranian Center of Excellence in Health Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
⁵ Research Center for Environmental Determinants of Health, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
⁶ National Cancer Control Secretariat, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a significant health problem with an increasing incidence worldwide. Screening is one of the ways, in which cases and deaths of CRC can be prevented. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the different CRC screening techniques and to specify the efficient technique from a cost-effectiveness perspective.

Methods: The economic studies of CRC screening in general populations (average risk), aged 50 years and above were reviewed. Two reviewers independently reviewed the titles, abstracts, and full-texts of the studies in five databases: Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed. The disagreements between reviewers were resolved through the authors' consensus. The main outcome measures in this systematic review were the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of screening versus no-screening and then in comparison with other screening techniques. The ICER is defined by the difference in cost between two possible interventions, divided by the difference in their effect.

Results: Eight studies were identified and retained for the final analysis. In this study, when screening techniques were compared to no-screening, all CRC screening techniques showed to be cost-effective. The lowest ICER calculated was $PPP -16265/quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) (the negative ICERs were between purchasing power parity in US dollar ($PPP) -16265/QALY to $PPP -1988/QALY, whereas the positive ICERs were between $PPP 1257/QALY to $PPP 55987/QALY). For studies comparing various screening techniques, there was great heterogeneity in terms of the structures of the analyses, leading to diverse conclusions about their incremental cost-effectiveness.

Conclusion: All CRC screening techniques were cost-effective, compared with the no-screening methods. The cost-effectiveness of the various screening techniques mainly was dependent on the context-specific parameters and highly affected by the framework of the cost-effectiveness analysis. In order to make the studies comparable, it is important to adopt a reference-based methodology for economic evaluation studies.

Keywords: colorectal cancer; economic evaluation; incremental cost-effectiveness ratio; screening techniques.

Publication types

Review