Increased clinical and economic advantage of proteinuric screening and intervention (PROSIT project) in type 2 diabetics

Background and objective: Even though there are simple and cost-effective means for the early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy, only a small proportion of diabetics in Germany is regularly tests for microalbuminuria. On the basis of evidence-based knowledge and of international guidelines the PROSIT project (proteinuria screening and intervention) aims to make good this deficiency in the German Federal Republic by introducing nephropathy screening and a structured intervention to improve blood sugar and blood pressure regulation, optimizing lipid metabolism and nutritional intake. It was the aim of this study to assess with a computer-aided diabetes model the clinical value and cost-effectiveness of such an intervention. Patients and methods: From data collected for 589 diabetics who participated in the PROSIT project, the short-time effects after one year on HbA1(c), systolic blood pressure and lipid levels were obtained and cost-effectiveness compared with that of standard care. Life expectancy, life-time costs to be met by health insurance and event frequency of the diabetic nephropathy stages were calculated with a Markov model for type 2 diabetics. Results: PROSIT improved individual life expectancy by 0.23 years with reduction of life-time costs by DM 9,772 (ca. $ 4,900). The cumulative incidence of microalbuminuria was lowered by 30.5 %, that of terminal renal failure by 55.9%. Even after discounting the results (i.e. the inclusion of time preference for cost and benefit) and stepwise changes of all variables by ± 10%, PROSIT remained the more cost-effective variant. Conclusion: From a health economy viewpoint PROSIT is superior to standard management. Early recognition of albuminuria and the introduction of a multifactorial treatment strategy make it possible to delay progression to terminal renal failure. In addition to its clinical benefits, prevention of dialysis and transplantation would reduce the annual savings of the health care system by several billion DM.