title: The hospital costs of diagnostic procedures for colorectal cancer.
abstract: Diagnosis for colorectal cancer is commonly made using either colonoscopy or double contrast barium enema techniques. To data, little attention has been paid to the comparative costs of these two procedures and the paper presents estimates of hospital costs for each, using data from the colorectal study being undertaken in Nottingham, U.K. Consideration is also given to procedure sensitivity and the frequency of referral to the alternative technique in cases of incomplete diagnosis. The paper presents the conditions under which a given technique may be considered cost-superior to its alternative but concludes that the absence of conclusive clinical trial data and other considerations precludes the identification of a definitively optimum technique from the economic point of view.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Nottingham, London, England.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Whynes
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Chamberlain
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Hardcastle
mesh_terms: D001466:Barium Sulfate; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000191:economics*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004733:Enema / Q000191:economics; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D011872:Radiology Department, Hospital / Q000191:economics*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012812:Sigmoidoscopy / Q000191:economics
chemical_list: D001466:Barium Sulfate