Cost-effectiveness analysis of cervical length measurement and fibronectin testing in women with threatened preterm labor

ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of risk stratification with cervical length (CL) measurement and/or fetal fibronectin (fFN) tests in women with threatened preterm labor between 24 and 34 weeks' gestation.Study designWe performed a model-based cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate 7 test-treatment strategies in women with threatened preterm labor from a health care system perspective. Estimates on disease prevalence, costs, and test accuracy were based on medical literature.ResultsWe found that additional fFN testing in the case of a CL between 10 and 30 mm is cost saving without compromising neonatal health outcomes, compared with a treat-all strategy or single CL testing. Implementing this strategy could lead to an annual cost saving between €2.8 million and €14.4 million in The Netherlands, a country with about 180,000 deliveries annually.ConclusionIn women with threatened preterm labor between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation, the most cost-effective test strategy uses a combination of CL and fFN testing.Gert-Jan van Baaren, Jolande Y. Vis, William A. Grobman, Patrick M. Bossuyt, Brent C. Opmeer, Ben W. Mo