Cost-effectiveness analysis of screen-and-treat strategy in asymptomatic Chinese for preventing Helicobacter pylori-associated diseases.

BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection in China results in a substantial public health burden. Medical experts have not agreed on the best solution of population intervention for this problem. We presented a health economic evaluation of a population-based H pylori screen-and-treat strategy for preventing gastric cancer, peptic ulcer disease (PUD), and nonulcer dyspepsia (NUD).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Decision trees and Markov models were developed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of H pylori screening followed by eradication treatment in asymptomatic Chinese. The modeled screen-and-treat strategy reduced the risk of gastric cancer, PUD, and NUD. The main outcomes were the costs, effectiveness, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. Uncertainty was explored by one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses.

RESULTS: For preventing gastric cancer, PUD, and NUD together in a cohort of 10 million asymptomatic Chinese at the age of 20 years, the H pylori screen-and-treat strategy saved 288.1 million dollars, 28 989 life years, and 111 663 quality-adjusted life years, and prevented 11 611 gastric cancers, 5422 deaths from gastric cancer, and 1854 deaths from PUD during life expectancy. Uncertainty of screening age from 20 to 60 did not affect the superiority of the screen-and-treat strategy over the no-screen strategy. The one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of our study's results.

CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the no-screen strategy, population-based screen-and-treat strategy for H pylori infection proved cheaper and more effective for preventing gastric cancer, PUD, and NUD in Chinese asymptomatic general population.