Economic Evaluation of Screening for Type 2 Diabetes: Case Study of Iran

Abstract Objective: In health economics, one of the important methods of economic evaluation is cost-effectiveness analysis. The usual procedure in this method is to consider effectiveness of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) as a measure criterion. Material and Methods: This was a cross sectional study of economic assessment type or Cost-Effectiveness. All over 30 years old population of Shiraz (543,820 people) were target population of the study. Indeed, in this study, all over 30 years old population being screened for diabetes in any governmental health centers and health stations in Shiraz (69 health stations and 30 healthcare centers) and 10 clinics related to Shiraz University of medical science, were included. Costs in this study included screening and surveillance costs and effectiveness was DALYs created for diabetes and its complications and finally, the results were analyzed using Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER). Results: The rate of DALYs due to diabetes, in the absence of screening and identifying diabetic patients was 748.0745 years. The rate due to diabetic retinopathy was 10.3886 years, in diabetic neuropathy was 29.5624 years, in diabetic foot was 0.0343 years and in diabetic nephropathy was 83.8728 years. In this study, total screening and surveillance costs were 42,821,873,941 Rials. The obtained ICER was 49,111,444 Rials. Conclusion: From governmental view, in this study, the plan saved 871.9327 years of individual lives covered by the program. According to the World Health Organization criteria, screening in this study is cost-effective.