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Weymann D, Buckell J, Fahr P, Loewen R, Ehman M, Pollard S, Friedman JM, Stockler-Ipsiroglu S, Elliott AM, Wordsworth S, Buchanan J, Regier DA. Health Care Costs After Genome-Wide Sequencing for Children With Rare Diseases in England and Canada. JAMA Netw Open 2024; 7:e2420842. [PMID: 38985473 PMCID: PMC11238031 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.20842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Importance Etiologic diagnoses for rare diseases can involve a diagnostic odyssey, with repeated health care interactions and inconclusive diagnostics. Prior studies reported cost savings associated with genome-wide sequencing (GWS) compared with cytogenetic or molecular testing through rapid genetic diagnosis, but there is limited evidence on whether diagnosis from GWS is associated with reduced health care costs. Objective To measure changes in health care costs after diagnosis from GWS for Canadian and English children with suspected rare diseases. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study was a quasiexperimental retrospective analysis across 3 distinct English and Canadian cohorts, completed in 2023. Mixed-effects generalized linear regression was used to estimate associations between GWS and costs in the 2 years before and after GWS. Difference-in-differences regression was used to estimate associations of genetic diagnosis and costs. Costs are in 2019 US dollars. GWS was conducted in a research setting (Genomics England 100 000 Genomes Project [100KGP] and Clinical Assessment of the Utility of Sequencing and Evaluation as a Service [CAUSES] Research Clinic) or clinical outpatient setting (publicly reimbursed GWS in British Columbia [BC], Canada). Participants were children with developmental disorders, seizure disorders, or both undergoing GWS between 2014 and 2019. Data were analyzed from April 2021 to September 2023. Exposures GWS and genetic diagnosis. Main Outcomes and Measures Annual health care costs and diagnostic costs per child. Results Study cohorts included 7775 patients in 100KGP, among whom 788 children had epilepsy (mean [SD] age at GWS, 11.6 [11.1] years; 400 female [50.8%]) and 6987 children had an intellectual disability (mean [SD] age at GWS, 8.2 [8.4] years; 2750 female [39.4%]); 77 patients in CAUSES (mean [SD] age at GWS, 8.5 [4.4] years; 33 female [42.9%]); and 118 publicly reimbursed GWS recipients from BC (mean [SD] age at GWS, 5.5 [5.2] years; 58 female [49.2%]). GWS diagnostic yield was 143 children (18.1%) for those with epilepsy and 1323 children (18.9%) for those with an intellectual disability in 100KGP, 47 children (39.8%) in the BC publicly reimbursed setting, and 42 children (54.5%) in CAUSES. Mean annual per-patient spending over the study period was $5283 (95% CI, $5121-$5427) for epilepsy and $3373 (95% CI, $3322-$3424) for intellectual disability in the 100KGP, $724 (95% CI, $563-$886) in CAUSES, and $1573 (95% CI, $1372-$1773) in the BC reimbursed setting. Receiving a genetic diagnosis from GWS was not associated with changed costs in any cohort. Conclusions and Relevance In this study, receiving a genetic diagnosis was not associated with cost savings. This finding suggests that patient benefit and cost-effectiveness should instead drive GWS implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deirdre Weymann
- Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - John Buckell
- Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Fahr
- Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Rosalie Loewen
- Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Morgan Ehman
- Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Samantha Pollard
- Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Jan M. Friedman
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Sylvia Stockler-Ipsiroglu
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Division of Biochemical Genetics, BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Alison M. Elliott
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Sarah Wordsworth
- Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - James Buchanan
- Health Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Dean A. Regier
- Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Kim S, Pistawka C, Langlois S, Osiovich H, Virani A, Kitchin V, Elliott AM. Genetic counselling considerations with genetic/genomic testing in Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units: A scoping review. Clin Genet 2024; 105:13-33. [PMID: 37927209 DOI: 10.1111/cge.14446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Genetic and genomic technologies can effectively diagnose numerous genetic disorders. Patients benefit when genetic counselling accompanies genetic testing and international guidelines recommend pre- and post-test genetic counselling with genome-wide sequencing. However, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the unique genetic counselling considerations with different types of genetic testing in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). This scoping review was conducted to identify the gaps in care with respect to genetic counselling for infants/pediatric patients undergoing genetic and genomic testing in NICUs and PICUs and understand areas in need of improvement in order to optimize clinical care for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Five databases (MEDLINE [Ovid], Embase [Ovid], PsycINFO [Ebsco], CENTRAL [Ovid], and CINHAL [Ebsco]) and grey literature were searched. A total of 170 studies were included and used for data extraction and analysis. This scoping review includes descriptive analysis, followed by a narrative account of the extracted data. Results were divided into three groups: pre-test, post-test, and comprehensive (both pre- and post-test) genetic counselling considerations based on indication for testing. More studies were conducted in the NICU than the PICU. Comprehensive genetic counselling was discussed in only 31% of all the included studies demonstrating the need for both pre-test and post-test genetic counselling for different clinical indications in addition to the need to account for different cultural aspects based on ethnicity and geographic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunu Kim
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Carly Pistawka
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Sylvie Langlois
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Women's Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Horacio Osiovich
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Women's Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Alice Virani
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Ethics Service, Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Vanessa Kitchin
- Woodward Library, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Alison M Elliott
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Women's Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Smith HS, Ferket BS, Gelb BD, Hindorff L, Ferar KD, Norton ME, Sahin-Hodoglugil N, Slavotinek A, Lich KH, Berg JS, Russell HV. Parent-Reported Clinical Utility of Pediatric Genomic Sequencing. Pediatrics 2023; 152:e2022060318. [PMID: 37470118 PMCID: PMC10812387 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2022-060318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Genomic sequencing (GS) is increasingly used for diagnostic evaluation, yet follow-up care is not well understood. We assessed clinicians' recommendations after GS, parent-reported follow-up, and actions parents initiated in response to learning their child's GS results. METHODS We surveyed parents of children who received GS through the Clinical Sequencing Evidence Generating Research consortium ∼5 to 7 months after return of results. We compared the proportion of parents who reported discussing their child's result with a clinician, clinicians' recommendations, and parents' follow-up actions by GS result type using χ2 tests. RESULTS A total of 1188 respondents completed survey measures on recommended medical actions (n = 1187) and/or parent-initiated actions (n = 913). Most parents who completed recommended medical actions questions (n = 833, 70.3%) reported having discussed their child's GS results with clinicians. Clinicians made recommendations to change current care for patients with positive GS results (n = 79, 39.1%) more frequently than for those with inconclusive (n = 31, 12.4%) or negative results (n = 44, 11.9%; P < .001). Many parents discussed (n = 152 completed, n = 135 planned) implications of GS results for future pregnancies with a clinician. Aside from clinical recommendations, 13.0% (n = 119) of parents initiated changes to their child's health or lifestyle. CONCLUSIONS In diverse pediatric clinical contexts, GS results can lead to recommendations for follow-up care, but they likely do not prompt large increases in the quantity of care received.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadley Stevens Smith
- Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA
- Precision Medicine Translational Research (PROMoTeR) Center, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bart S. Ferket
- Institute for Healthcare Delivery Science, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bruce D. Gelb
- Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Departments of Pediatrics and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lucia Hindorff
- Training, Diversity and Health Equity Office, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
| | - Kathleen D. Ferar
- Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, Division of Biomedical Informatics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Mary E. Norton
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Anne Slavotinek
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Kristen Hasmiller Lich
- Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jonathan S. Berg
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC, USA
| | - Heidi V. Russell
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX, USA
- Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, UTHealth School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA
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