Original Title: Fenylketonurian seulonta Suomessa

Authors' objectives:

To evaluate the cost effectiveness of phenylketonuria (PKU) screening in newborns in Finland, especially regarding PKU screening targeted at infants born to non-Finnish parents.

Authors' recommendations: Early treatment may prevent irreversible brain damage caused by PKU. Finland does not have a national screening program since PKU incidence is only 1:100 000 to 1:200 000 (ie, significantly lower than elsewhere). The Guthrie method, fluorometry, or tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) are used to screen for PKU, with MS/MS being the most specific method. The Guthrie method and fluorometry were found to be cost effective in many countries. MS/MS was cost effective only when combined with screening of at least one other metabolic disease. In 2000 to 2006, infants born to immigrant parents increased from 2.3% to 3.4% of all newborns. Annual costs for screening would be 96 000 euros for these infants, and 2.7 million euros for screening all infants. Twenty hospitals (representing 80% of all births) screened for PKU in newborns with immigrant parents. A single case of PKU was found by screening, and no other cases were identified in 7 years. The cost effectiveness of both universal and selective PKU screening in Finland is dubious. Targeted screening evokes ethical questions, eg, definition and identification of ethnic origin and acceptability as a public health strategy.

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2008

URL for published report: http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201204193668

English language abstract: There is no English language summary available

Publication Type: Rapid Review

Country: Finland

Organisation Name: Finnish Coordinating Center for Health Technology Assessment

Contact Address: Finnish Office for Health Care Technology Assessment (Finohta)

Contact Name: .

Contact Email: fincchta@ppshp.fi

Copyright: Finnish Office for Health Care Technology Assessment (FinOHTA)