• 1. Department of Pharmacy, Wuhan Third Hospital / Tongren Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430061, P. R. China;
  • 2. Department of Pharmacy, Sanming Second Hospital, Sanming, Fujian 353000, P. R. China;
  • 3. Journal of Chinese Hospital Architecture and Equipment, Beijing 100044, P. R. China;
  • 4. National Institute of Hospital Administration, National Health Commission, Beijing 100083, P. R. China;
  • 5. School of Politics and Public Administration, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, P. R. China;
DONG Siping, Email: sipingd@163.com
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Objective  To compare the economic effectiveness of universal screening, high-risk population screening, and no screening strategies for thyroid disease prevention and control among pregnant women in China through cost-effectiveness analysis, providing evidence-based support for optimizing health policy decisions on prenatal thyroid disease screening. Methods  Based on the characteristics of thyroid disorders during pregnancy, a combined decision tree and Markov model was developed to conduct a lifetime cost-effectiveness analysis across three strategies: no screening, high-risk population screening, and universal screening. Sensitivity analyses were performed on key parameters. Results  Base-case analysis demonstrated that universal screening was the most cost-effective strategy when the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended payment threshold of 1×gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was used, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 20636.18 yuan per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) compared to no screening, followed by high-risk population screening (ICER=21071.71 yuan/QALY). The results of the sensitivity analysis showed a strong stability of the model. Conclusions  Of the 3 screening programs for thyroid disease in pregnancy, universal screening is the most cost-effective when the WHO-recommended payment threshold of 1×GDP per capita is used.

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