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Health assessments could decrease incidence of diabetes, CVD in Europe
Results from a 2-year analysis demonstrate that regular health assessments would reduce the incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and prove cost-effective during a 30-year period in six European countries. The management of these vascular diseases requires a unified approach to focus on modifiable risk factors, according to Ulf Smith, MD, PhD, of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues.
“This study using the Archimedes model shows that offering health checks would likely reduce the 30-year incidence of major CV events, including heart attack, stroke or death, and serious complications such as diabetes-related blindness and chronic kidney disease,” Smith said in a press release. “Based on this study, prescreening strategies for treating common conditions that are increasingly becoming of concern across Europe could reduce the total budget impact of launching a health check program while leading to meaningful improvements in health.”
Ulf Smith
To test this approach, researchers simulated a clinical trial, which included patients aged 40 to 75 years, by comparing seven health check strategies to current levels of care in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. The model forecasted outcomes and health care associated with diabetes and its complications, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, hypertension, obesity and metabolic syndrome, as well as breast, lung and colon cancer, researchers wrote. Assessments also included lipids and smoking status.
Results indicate that health checks prevented six to 17 major adverse CV events, five to 11 diabetes-related microvascular complications (per 1,000 patients screened for each) and 31 to 59 discounted costs per quality-adjusted life-years during a 30-year period in all countries (P<.0001) compared with current care, researchers wrote. Prescreening methods would likely improve health and cost-effectiveness, they added.
“Population-level screening should be a central element of any management strategy because the early stages of vascular disease are often asymptomatic, and many individuals remain undiagnosed until debilitating and costly complications occur,” researchers wrote.
Disclosure: Smith reports no relevant financial disclosures. See the study for a full list of all financial disclosures.