Prescriptive Decision Modeling for Cystic Fibrosis Screening

Dr. Asch will be conducting a prescriptive decision analysis for CF screening programs, which will use decision theory and economic techniques to model decision-making about CF carrier testing. The decision model developed will address the following issues: who should be offered carrier testing, and the best method for testing couples; the best course and sequence of further testing and treatment following carrier screening results; re-screening individuals who have been screened in the past for CF mutations as more mutations are uncovered; the anticipated impact of future technologic innovation of CF testing and treatment; tradeoffs between monetary and nonmonetary effects that the alternative answers to these questions imply; and differences in responses of various groups, i.e. patients, health care providers, and insurance companies, who have varying financial, psychological, and moral perspectives. This study will provide a theoretical backdrop against which the findings of the empirical clinical studies can be analyzed. (Member of Cystic Fibrosis Studies Consortium--CFSC)