Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 31;29(11):8330-8339.
doi: 10.3390/curroncol29110657.

Using Real-World Data to Determine Health System Costs of Ontario Women Screened for Breast Cancer

Affiliations

Using Real-World Data to Determine Health System Costs of Ontario Women Screened for Breast Cancer

Nicole Mittmann et al. Curr Oncol. .

Abstract

Our study was to determine breast cancer screening costs in Ontario, Canada for screenings conducted through a formal (Ontario Breast Screening Program, OBSP) and informal (non-OBSP) screening program using administrative databases. Included women were 49-74 years of age when receiving screening mammograms between 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2019. Each woman was followed for a screening episode with screening and diagnostic components, and costs were calculated as an average cost per woman per month in 2021 Canadian dollars. The final cohort of 1,546,386 women screened had a mean age of 59.4 ± 7.1 years and ~87% were screened via OBSP. The average total cost per woman per month was $136 ± $103, $134 ± $103 and $155 ± $104 for the entire, OBSP and non-OBSP cohorts, respectively. This was further disaggregated into the average total screening cost per month, which was $103 ± $8, $100 ± $4 and $117 ± $9 per woman, and the average total diagnostic cost per woman per month at $219 ± $166, $228 ± $165 and $178 ± $159. for the entire, OBSP and non-OBSP cohorts, respectively. These results indicate similar screening costs across the different cohorts, but higher diagnostic costs for the OBSP cohort.

Keywords: breast cancer screening; costs; diagnostics; mammograms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Average Costs Per Month for Entire, OBSP and Non-OBSP Cohorts.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Average Screening Costs Per Woman Per Month for the Entire Ontario Cohort. (B) Average Diagnostic Costs Per Woman Per Month for the Entire Ontario Cohort.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Average Screening Costs Per Woman Per Month for the Entire Ontario Cohort. (B) Average Diagnostic Costs Per Woman Per Month for the Entire Ontario Cohort.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of Ontario and Quebec Average Cost Per Woman Per Month.

References

    1. Chiarelli A.M., Blackmore K.M., Mirea L., Done S.J., Majpruz V., Weerasinghe A., Rabeneck L., Muradali D. Annual vs Biennial Screening: Diagnostic Accuracy among Concurrent Cohorts within the Ontario Breast Screening Program. JNCI J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2019;112:400–409. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djz131. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Integrated Cancer Management System. [(accessed on 20 October 2022)]. Available online: https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/integrated-cancer-management-system-icms.
    1. Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Provinces and Territories 2019. [(accessed on 16 September 2022)]; Available online: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/91-215-x/91-215-x2019001-eng.pdf?....
    1. Mittmann N., Stout N.K., Tosteson A.N.A., Trentham-Dietz A., Alagoz O., Yaffe M.J. Cost-Effectiveness of Mammography from a Publicly Funded Health Care System Perspective. CMAJ Open. 2018;6:E77–E86. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20170106. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mittmann N., Stout N.K., Lee P., Tosteson A.N.A., Trentham-Dietz A., Alagoz O., Yaffe M.J. Total Cost-Effectiveness of Mammography Screening Strategies. Health Rep. 2015;26:16–25. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Grants and funding