Background: Health economic analyses based on randomized trials have shown that screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) cost-effectively decreases AAA-related as well as allcause mortality. However, results from running screening programmes now reveal substantially changed conditions in terms of prevalence, attendance rate, costs and mortality after intervention. Our aim was to evaluate whether screening for AAA among 65-year-old men on a general basis is cost-effective under current clinical practice.

Methods: A decision-analytic model, previously used to show the cost-effectiveness of an AAA-screening programme before decision to introduce screening in practice, was updated using results from implemented screening-programmes as well as data from contemporary published data and the Swedvasc registry.

Results: The base-case analysis showed that the cost per life-year gained and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained were 3252 € and 4231 €, respectively. The probability of screening being cost-effective was high.

Conclusion: Despite profound changes in disease pattern and AAA-management, the current results are similar to those reported almost 10 years ago, and thus screening 65-year-old men for AAA still appears to be cost-effective.