Simulating lifestyle and medical interventions to prevent type-2 diabetes: an economic evaluation for Belgium

Désirée Vandenberghe ()
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Désirée Vandenberghe: Ghent University

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2022, vol. 23, issue 2, No 7, 237-248

Abstract: Abstract By 2040, over half a billion people globally are expected to have diabetes. This disease implies a loss in life quality and comes with a significant financial impact. To avoid prevalence increases in the main category of diabetes—type-2 diabetes (T-2D)—, preventive action among high-risk groups is necessary. Lifestyle and medical interventions with metformin among prediabetic individuals show strong potential to decrease or delay T-2D. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of a nation-wide implementation of these interventions, between 2020 and 2040, in Belgium. This is done through a dynamic, non-homogeneous, semi-Markov model which simulates prevalence and costs of a type of prediabetes (impaired glucose tolerance or IGT) and T-2D in Belgium. High-risk individuals are first screened; individuals with IGT then enroll in a lifestyle or metformin program. Compared to no intervention, both programs are very cost effective from the perspective of the health care system and cost-saving from a broader societal perspective. Both interventions require an initial, affordable government investment and later yield government savings. The lifestyle program is a cost-effective alternative to the metformin intervention and may yield additional benefits through, for example, improvements in mental health.

Keywords: Type-2 diabetes; Prediabetes; Lifestyle intervention; Metformin intervention; Cost effectiveness; Budget impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C63 D62 I11 I12 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-021-01362-5

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