Start of EUSCREEN Study that compares cost-effectiveness of childhood vision and hearing screening programmes in all European countries and implements these in Romania and Albania

Abstract

Purpose : Across Europe inequity exists in the provision of childhood vision and hearing screening programmes (VAHSPs). They vary with regard to age and frequency of testing, tests used, uptake, screening professionals, referral pathway and funding. In the EUSCREEN Study, the VAHSPs in all countries in Europe will be compared regarding their cost-effectiveness, and new VAHSPs will be implemented in Romania and Albania where currently no population-based screening programmes exist.

Methods : In the first year of the study, detailed information is gathered from all 41 countries in Europe about existing vision and hearing screening programmes, demographic data, general health care, general paediatric screening, vision and hearing screening, tests used, professions involved, treatment of amblyopia, hearing impairment and other eye and ear disorders, results of screening programmes and side-effects. The cost-effectiveness model will be constructed from the MISCAN model used to calculated cost-effectiveness of repeated population-based screening for cancer and other disorders in the Netherlands, taking regional diversity and organisational and resource requirements into account.

Results : Part of the data about existing screening programmes has been collected (accompanying poster Aya Sami and others). In the Summer of 2017 a preliminary version of the model will predict the most cost-effective VAHSPs for Romania and for Albania. Courses for nurses or other professionals who will perform the screening will be held in the Autumn of 2017. The model-predicted screening programmes will be tested in 2018 and 2019 in the county of Cluj in Romania for vision screening, and in the counties Tirana, Progadec and Kukes in Albania for hearing screening. A generic strategy for implementation will be developed by detailed tracking, and from identified requirements, facilitators and barriers.

Conclusions : The EUSCREEN Study will make comparison of the cost-effectiveness of the very diverse vision and hearing screening programmes in Europe possible. The decision-analytic modelling framework will be packed into a transferable TOOLKIT that will assist healthcare providers and policy makers worldwide in their decisions to introduce or modify VAHSPs, and increase effectiveness, efficiency and equity of child healthcare.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.