Medico-economic impact of thoracoscopy versus thoracotomy in lung cancer: multicentre randomised controlled trial (Lungsco01).

BACKGROUND: Lungsco01 is the first study assessing the real benefits and the medico-economic impact of video-thoracoscopy versus open thoracotomy for non-small cell lung cancer in the French context. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty nine adult patients from 10 French centres were randomised in this prospective multicentre randomised controlled trial, between July 29, 2016, and November 24, 2020. Survival from surgical intervention to day 30 and later was compared with the log-rank test. Total quality-adjusted-life-years (QALYs) were calculated using the EQ-5D-3L®. For medico-economic analyses at 30 days and at 3 months after surgery, resources consumed were valorised (€ 2018) from a hospital perspective. First, since mortality was infrequent and not different between the two arms, cost-minimisation analyses were performed considering only the cost differential. Second, based on complete cases on QALYs, cost-utility analyses were performed taking into account cost and QALY differential. Acceptability curves and the 95% confidence intervals for the incremental ratios were then obtained using the non-parametric bootstrap method (10,000 replications). Sensitivity analyses were performed using multiple imputations with the chained equation method. RESULTS: The average cumulative costs of thoracotomy were lower than those of video-thoracoscopy at 30 days (€9,730 (SD = 3,597) vs. €11,290 (SD = 4,729)) and at 3 months (€9,863 (SD = 3,508) vs. €11,912 (SD = 5,159)). In the cost-utility analyses, the incremental cost-utility ratio was €19,162 per additional QALY gained at 30 days (€36,733 at 3 months). The acceptability curve revealed a 64% probability of efficiency at 30 days for video-thoracoscopy, at a widely-accepted willingness-to-pay threshold of €25,000 (34% at 3 months). Ratios increased after multiple imputations, implying a higher cost for video-thoracoscopy for an additional QALY gain (ratios: €26,015 at 30 days, €42,779 at 3 months). CONCLUSIONS: Given our results, the economic efficiency of video-thoracoscopy at 30 days remains fragile at a willingness-to-pay threshold of €25,000/QALY. The economic efficiency is not established beyond that time horizon. The acceptability curves given will allow decision-makers to judge the probability of efficiency of this technology at other willingness-to-pay thresholds. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02502318.

Efficiency and effectiveness of intensive multidisciplinary follow-up of patients with stroke/TIA or myocardial infarction compared to usual monitoring: protocol of a pragmatic randomised clinical trial. DiVa (Dijon vascular) study.

INTRODUCTION: The ongoing ageing population is associated with an increase in the number of patients suffering a stroke, transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or myocardial infarction (MI). In these patients, implementing secondary prevention is a critical challenge and new strategies need to be developed to close the gap between clinical practice and evidence-based recommendations. We describe the protocol of a randomised clinical trial that aims to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of an intensive multidisciplinary follow-up of patients compared with standard care. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The DiVa study is a randomised, prospective, controlled, multicentre trial including patients >18 years old with a first or recurrent stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic) or TIA, or a type I or II MI, managed in one of the participating hospitals of the study area, with a survival expectancy >12 months. Patients will be randomised with an allocation ratio of 1:1 in two parallel groups: one group assigned to a multidisciplinary, nurse-based and pharmacist-based 2-year follow-up in association with general practitioners, neurologists and cardiologists versus one group with usual follow-up. In each group for each disease (stroke/TIA or MI), 430 patients will be enrolled (total of 1720 patients) over 3 years. The primary outcome will be the incremental cost-utility ratio at 24 months between intensive and standard follow-up in a society perspective. Secondary outcomes will include the incremental cost-utility ratio at 6 and 12 months, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio at 24 months, reduction at 6, 12 and 24 months of the rates of death, unscheduled rehospitalisation and iatrogenic complications, changes in quality of life, net budgetary impact at 5 years of the intensive follow-up on the national health insurance perspective and analysis of factors having positive or negative effects on the implementation of the project in the study area. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was obtained and all patients receive information about the study and give their consent to participate before randomisation. Results of the main trial and each of the secondary analyses will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04188457. Registered on 6 December 2019.

The Economic, Medical and Psychosocial Consequences of Whole Genome Sequencing for the Genetic Diagnosis of Patients With Intellectual Disability: The DEFIDIAG Study Protocol.

Introduction: Like other countries, France has invested in a national medical genomics program. Among the four pilot research studies, the DEFIDIAG project focuses on the use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) for patients with intellectual disability (ID), a neurodevelopmental condition affecting 1-3% of the general population but due to a plethora of genes. However, the access to genomic analyses has many potential individual and societal issues in addition to the technical challenges. In order to help decision-makers optimally introduce genomic testing in France, there is a need to identify the socio-economic obstacles and leverages associated with the implementation of WGS. Methods and Analysis: This humanities and social sciences analysis is part of the DEFIDIAG study. The main goal of DEFIDIAG is to compare the percentage of causal genetic diagnoses obtained by trio WGS (including the patient and both parents) (WGST) to the percentage obtained using the minimal reference strategy currently used in France (Fragile-X testing, chromosomal microarray analysis, and gene panel strategy including 44 ID genes) for patients with ID having their first clinical genetics consultation. Additionally, four complementary studies will be conducted. First, a cost-effectiveness analysis will be undertaken in a subsample of 196 patients consulting for the first time for a genetic evaluation; in a blinded fashion, WGST and solo (index case, only) genomic analysis (WGSS) will be compared to the reference strategy. In addition, quantitative studies will be conducted: the first will estimate the cost of the diagnostic odyssey that could potentially be avoidable with first-line WGST in all patients previously investigated in the DEFIDIAG study; the second will estimate changes in follow-up of the patients in the year after the return of the WGST analysis compared to the period before inclusion. Finally, through semi-directive interviews, we will explore the expectations of 60 parents regarding genomic analyses. Discussion: Humanities and social sciences studies can be used to demonstrate the efficiency of WGS and assess the value that families associate with sequencing. These studies are thus expected to clarify trade-offs and to help optimize the implementation of genomic sequencing in France. Ethics Statement: The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee Sud Méditerranée I (June 2019)-identification number: 2018-A00680-55 and the French data privacy commission (CNIL, authorization 919361). Clinical Trial Registration: (ClinicalTrials.gov), identifier (NCT04154891).

Direct medical and non-medical costs of a one-year care pathway for early operable breast cancer: Results of a French multicenter prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: The organization of health care for breast cancer (BC) constitutes a public health challenge to ensure quality of care, while also controlling expenditure. Few studies have assessed the global care pathway of early BC patients, including a description of direct medical costs and their determinants. The aims of this multicenter prospective study were to describe care pathways of BC patients in a geographic territory and to calculate the global direct costs of early stage BC during the first year following diagnosis. METHODS: OPTISOINS01 was a multicenter, prospective, observational study including early BC patients from diagnosis to one-year follow-up. Direct medical costs (in-hospital and out-of-hospital costs, supportive care costs) and direct non-medical costs (transportation and sick leave costs) were calculated by using a cost-of-illness analysis based on a bottom-up approach. Resources consumed were recorded in situ for each patient, using a prospective direct observation method. RESULTS: Data from 604 patients were analyzed. Median direct medical costs of 1 year of management after diagnosis in operable BC patients were €12,250. Factors independently associated with higher direct medical costs were: diagnosis on the basis of clinical signs, invasive cancer, lymph node involvement and conventional hospitalization for surgery. Median sick leave costs were €8,841 per patient and per year. Chemotherapy was an independent determinant of sick leave costs (€3,687/patient/year without chemotherapy versus €10,706 with chemotherapy). Forty percent (n = 242) of patients declared additional personal expenditure of €614/patient/year. No drivers of these costs were identified. CONCLUSION: Initial stage of disease and the treatments administered were the main drivers of direct medical costs. Direct non-medical costs essentially consisted of sick leave costs, accounting for one-half of direct medical costs for working patients. Out-of-pocket expenditure had a limited impact on the household.

Multidimensional impact of breast cancer screening: Results of the multicenter prospective optisoins01 study.

Breast cancer (BC) screening has been developed to detect earlier stage tumors associated with better prognosis. The aim of study was to evaluate the impact of BC screening on therapeutic management of patients with first operable BC, and on costs, patients' needs, and working life. OPTISOINS01 was a multicenter, prospective observational study which aimed to identify the main care pathway of early BC. Among patients aged from 50 to 74 years-old, 2 groups were defined: the "Clinical signs" group and the "Screening" group (national organized screening and individual screening). We compared between these 2 groups: locoregional and systemic treatments, direct medical and non-medical costs from a National Health Insurance perspective, patients' needs assessed by the validated SCNS-BR8 "breast cancer" module of the SCNS-SF34 supportive care needs survey and the duration of sick leave. The "Clinical signs" group included 89 patients, while the"Screening" group included 290 patients. More axillary lymph node dissections and radical breast surgery were performed in the "Clinical signs". The rate of adjuvant chemotherapy was dramatically higher in the "Clinical signs" group. The median direct medical costs of the "Screening" group were €11,860 (€3,643-€41,030) per year and per patient, much lower than in the "Clinical signs" group (€14,940; €5,317-€41,070). Finally, needs specifically assessed by the SCNS-BR8 questionnaire were significantly higher for the postoperative and post-adjuvant periods in the "Clinical signs" group. This study highlighted the benefit of BC screening in terms of reduced therapies and positive impact on work and social life.

Determinants of return at work of breast cancer patients: results from the OPTISOINS01 French prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Return to work (RTW) after breast cancer (BC) is still a new field of research. The factors determining shorter sick leave duration of patients with BC have not been clearly identified. The aim of this study was to describe work during BC treatment and to identify factors associated with sick leave duration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational, prospective, multicentre study was conducted among women with operable BC. A logbook was given to all working patients to record sociodemographic and work-related data over a 1-year period. RESULTS: Work-related data after BC were available for 178 patients (60%). The median age at diagnosis was 50 years (27-77), 87.9% of patients had an invasive form of BC and 25.3% a lymph node involvement. 25.9% had a radical surgery and 24.2% had an axillary dissection. Radiotherapy was performed in 90.9% of patients and chemotherapy in 48.1%. Sick leave was prescribed for 165 patients (92.7%) for a median of 155 days. On univariate analysis, invasive BC (p=0.025), lymph node involvement (p=0.005), radical surgery (p=0.025), axillary dissection (p=0.004), chemotherapy (p<0.001), personal income <€1900/month (p=0.03) and not having received the patient information booklet on RTW (p=0.047) were found to be associated with a longer duration of sick leave. On multivariate analysis, chemotherapy was found to be associated with longer sick leave (OR: 3.5; 95% CI 1.6 to 7.9; p=0.002). The cost of sick leave to French National Health Insurance was fourfold higher in the case of chemotherapy (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Advanced disease and chemotherapy are major factors that influence sick leave duration during the management of BC. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02813317.