Cost-Effectiveness of Breast Cancer Screening in Shiraz, Iran

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the world, which accounts for 21.4% of all kinds of cancers for women in Iran. However, the treatment of breast cancer is costly and given that the budget devoted to the healthcare sector is limited, the present study aimed to investigate the cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening for women, who referred to breast clinic located in Shahid Motahari clinic affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz city, Iran in 2017-2018. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional study analyzing the cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening versus no screening. The study was conducted on 3500 women, who referred to the breast clinic in Motahari clinic, at 2017–2018 in Shiraz, Iran. The patients were identified and direct costs, which were correlated to cancer breast screening, were calculated based on the patients’ records with public tariff per person. Tree age pro 2011 used to analyze cost effectiveness. RESULTS: Based on the results obtained, the expected cost of screening and no screening were 7556 $ppp and 7840 $ppp, respectively. Given their difference in effectiveness (16%), screening was dominant (less costly and more effective) compared to no screening. Tornado diagram showed that the results had the maximum sensitivity to the increase in screening cost. CONCLUSIONS: In general, according to the results obtained from the current study, the screening was more cost effective compared with no screening.