Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis Is Cost-Effective

Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis Is Cost-Effective
The cost of screening is offset by lower treatment costs.

Newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) is gaining acceptance. Investigators in the U.K. used a national registry to assess the cost-benefit of newborn CF screening. They compared estimated yearly treatment costs for 184 CF patients who were diagnosed by newborn screening and 950 CF patients who were diagnosed based on clinical symptoms at ages 1 to 9 years in 2002.

The treatment cost was 400% less for CF children diagnosed by newborn screening than for those diagnosed clinically (mean cost, US$7228 vs. US$12,008). The cost was 500% less for children diagnosed using homozygous F508 newborn screening compared with those diagnosed clinically. After adjustments for age and Pseudomonas infections, clinically diagnosed children had higher treatment costs per patient than children diagnosed by newborn screening, regardless of whether screening was based on the F508 mutation. The authors estimated that the cost savings associated with newborn screening would substantially offset the costs of instituting a national CF screening program in the U.K.

Comment: These data are important from both a policy and a clinical viewpoint. Diagnosis of CF by newborn screening is cost-effective. Early diagnosis of CF offers the opportunity for anticipatory management, reduced infections, improved nutrition, and as this study shows, lower treatment costs. Once all newborns are screened for CF, clinical outcomes should continue to improve.

— F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Published in Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine June 6, 2007

Citation(s):
Sims EJ et al. Economic implications of newborn screening for cystic fibrosis: A cost of illness retrospective cohort study. Lancet 2007 Apr 7; 369:1187-95.