Cost-Effectiveness of Capsule Colonoscopy for CRC Screening

One of the main barriers to adherence to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programs is patient reluctance to undergo conventional colonoscopy. As an alternative, capsule colonoscopy has shown promising accuracy for CRC diagnosis, and its noninvasiveness might be more attractive to patients (Endosc 2006; 38:971). But, is capsule colonoscopy cost-effective compared with conventional colonoscopy, the gold standard for CRC screening?

To find out, investigators devised a Markov model for a hypothetical population of 100,000 individuals who would undergo screening every 10 years beginning at age 50. Costs were assumed to be US$877 for diagnostic colonoscopy, $950 for capsule colonoscopy, and $1265 for colonoscopy with polypectomy.

Based on an estim…