This paper presents a medical cost function developed for a screening programme. The medical cost function is a function of advancement both directly and indirectly through survival. We discuss how the medical cost function is affected by screening through a shift in the distribution of cancers according to advancement. We show that screening reduces the treatment cost for cancers diagnosed at the screening, even though the medical cost function not unambiguously increases with stage of advancement. This is the first step in a cost-effectiveness analysis, and even though the results are favourable to the introduction of screening for colorectal cancer as a preventive health measure, total screening costs and health benefits must be evaluated to arrive at a recommendation.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Oslo University, Health Economics Research Programme in its series HERO On line Working Paper Series with number
2008:5.
Length: 39 pages Date of creation: 02 Jun 2009 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:hhs:oslohe:2008_005
Contact details of provider: Postal: HERO / Institute of Health Management and Health Economics P.O. Box 1089 Blindern, N-0317 Oslo, Norway Phone: 2307 5309 Fax: 2307 5310 Email: Web page: http://www.hero.uio.no/eng.html More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Gunn Kristin Tjoflot).