It has been clearly shown that colon cancer screening reduces mortality from this type of cancer. In Italy, the general public is now more aware of this disease. However, no national-scale program is yet in sight. We compared, for cost effectiveness and feasibility, five types of programs: fecal occult blood testing sigmoidoscopy, fecal occult blood testing plus sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy and "filter" colonoscopy. The latter had to be performed in persons turning 50 and repeated every 10 years until 70. Costs for the tests and colon cancer care were those payed by the Regional Health Office to the hospitals performing the procedures/treatments. Our analysis shows that in Italy screening programs based on sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy are more cost effective than those based on fecal occult blood testing. "Filter" colonoscopy at age 50 appears superior to the other types of endoscopy-based screening programs because it utilizes, at any point in time, a much smaller fraction of available resources.
Screening per il cancro del colon-retto nella realtà Italiana
SORRENTINO, Dario Rosario;
2002-01-01
Abstract
It has been clearly shown that colon cancer screening reduces mortality from this type of cancer. In Italy, the general public is now more aware of this disease. However, no national-scale program is yet in sight. We compared, for cost effectiveness and feasibility, five types of programs: fecal occult blood testing sigmoidoscopy, fecal occult blood testing plus sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy and "filter" colonoscopy. The latter had to be performed in persons turning 50 and repeated every 10 years until 70. Costs for the tests and colon cancer care were those payed by the Regional Health Office to the hospitals performing the procedures/treatments. Our analysis shows that in Italy screening programs based on sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy are more cost effective than those based on fecal occult blood testing. "Filter" colonoscopy at age 50 appears superior to the other types of endoscopy-based screening programs because it utilizes, at any point in time, a much smaller fraction of available resources.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
