Economic impact of automated primary screening for cervical cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To construct a markovian model to project the marginal cost of the AutoPap System as compared to manual cervical cytologic screening.


METHODS
Data from a clinical trial and published literature were entered into a seven-state markovian decision-analytic model to estimate the marginal cost per year of life saved that could be attributed to changes in primary screening technology.


RESULTS
Annual screening with AutoPap produced a meaningful increase in life expectancy of 32.1 days relative to manual screening at a marginal savings of $628 per person (or a marginal savings of $7,144 per life-year saved). Less frequent screening yielded lower positive savings.


CONCLUSIONS
Automated screening for cervical cancer has the potential to significantly improve health care outcomes and reduce cost.
Research Solutions, Redlands, CA 92373-5802, USA.
B L
BL
Smith
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M
Lee
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Leader
P
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Wertlake
D000293:Adolescent; D001322:Autoanalysis / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D014626:Vaginal Smears