Can costs of screening for hypertension and diabetes in dental care and follow-up in primary health care be predicted?

• Aim. The purpose was to assess the direct costs of screening for high blood pressure and blood glucose in dental care and of follow-up in primary health care and, based on these data, arrive at a prediction function. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanStudy population. All subjects coming for routine check-ups at three dental health clinics were invited to have blood pressure or blood glucose measurements; 1,623 agreed to participate. Subjects screening positive were referred to their primary health care centres for follow-up. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods. Information on individual screening time was registered during the screening process, and information on accountable time, costs for the screening staff, overhead costs, and analysis costs for the screening was obtained from the participating dental clinics. The corresponding items in primary care, i.e. consultation time, number of follow-up appointments, accountable time, costs for the follow-up staff, overhead costs, and analysis costs during follow-up were obtained from the primary health care centres. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults. The total screening costs per screened subject ranged from (sic)7.4 to (sic)9.2 depending on subgroups, corresponding to 16.7-42.7 staff minutes. The corresponding follow-up costs were (sic)57-(sic)91. The total resource used for screening and follow-up per diagnosis was 563-3,137 staff minutes. There was a strong relationship between resource use and numbers needed to screen (NNS) to find one diagnosis (P andlt; 0.0001, degree of explanation 99%). less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusions. Screening and follow-up costs were moderate and appear to be lower for combined screening of blood pressure and blood glucose than for separate screening. There was a strong relationship between resource use and NNS.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Odontologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Dentistry (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Endokrinologi och diabetes (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Endocrinology and Diabetes (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Costs

dental care

diabetes mellitus type 2

early diagnosis

high blood pressure

primary health care

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

Costs

dental care

diabetes mellitus type 2

early diagnosis

high blood pressure

primary health care

HIGH BLOOD-PRESSURE

MELLITUS

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