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Serology for mite sensitization screening could save $4B over 5 years
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A simulation that used serology to screen children with asthma for mite sensitization saved more than $4 billion over 5 years, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.
“Asthma exacerbations are one of the main causes of hospital admissions,” Barbara Mascialino, PhD, MSc, global health economics and public policy manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Uppsala, Sweden, told Healio Primary Care Today. “It is expected that the overall burden of chronic diseases will increase in the future; therefore, a cheap and easily available intervention such as the usage of serology testing in all asthmatic children may be well suited for a more informed spending for the health system, contributing to reduce the burden of disease across the United States.”
Researchers developed the simulation model in which children with asthma were screened with serology for dust mite sensitization. Those sensitized received bed encasings and reduced their exposure to allergens.
Mascialino and colleagues found that implementing the model in all children in the United States with asthma yielded a potential cost savings of more than $4 billion over 5 years due to reduced hospital admissions caused by dust mite-related asthma exacerbations.
“A potential barrier to the implementation of our intervention may be represented by the unwillingness of parents or payors to purchase the bed encasings, but this could be overcome by educating both the patients and their families of the benefits to consistent usage of these bed encasings,” Mascialino said in the interview.
She addressed those that might be skeptical of the model’s validity in clinical practice.
“Serology testing is widely available in the U.S. and of great value when evaluating a pediatric patient with an asthma diagnosis, as trigger avoidance may help reducing the burden of this disease and increasing patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life,” Mascialino said. – by Janel Miller
Reference:
Mascialino B, et al. Abstract 675. Presented at: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting; Feb. 22-25, 2019; San Francisco.
Disclosures: Healio Primary Care Today was unable to determine the authors’ relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.