Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2010Model Uncertainty in Economic Evaluation of Health Interventions: Rotavirus Vaccination in Vietnam
Motivated by observed discrepancies between 2 published studies on the cost-effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in …
Motivated by observed discrepancies between 2 published studies on the cost-effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in Vietnam, the authors' objectives were to illustrate a specific, systematic approach to assessing model (structure and process) uncertainty and to quantify explicitly the contributions of different sources of variation in the outputs of different studies that share the same research question. On the basis of a series of working definitions of key model elements, the authors developed 5 alternative computer…
Calibration/Validation | State-Transition | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Economics/Finance | Asia & Pacific -
ReviewPublication 2008Modeling Cervical Cancer Prevention in Developed Countries
Decision-analytic models are increasingly developed to simulate disease burden and interventions in different settings in …
Decision-analytic models are increasingly developed to simulate disease burden and interventions in different settings in order to evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of primary and secondary interventions. This article is a review of mathematical models that have been used to evaluate HPV vaccination in the context of developed countries with existing screening programs. Despite variations in model assumptions and uncertainty in existing data, pre-adolescent vaccination of females in the setting of current screening practices has…
Calibration/Validation | State-Transition | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | Dynamic Transmission | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2008Mathematical Models of Cervical Cancer Prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean
This article reports on a model-based approach estimated averted cervical cancer cases and deaths, disability-adjusted …
This article reports on a model-based approach estimated averted cervical cancer cases and deaths, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (I$/DALY averted) for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of young adolescent girls using population and epidemiologic data for 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The authors found that an absolute reduction in lifetime cancer risk varied between countries, depending on incidence, proportion attributable to HPV-16 and 18, and population age-structure; for…
Calibration/Validation | State-Transition | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Costing Methods | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Science/Technology | Latin America & Caribbean -
ArticlePublication 2002Empirically Calibrated Model of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the United States
This article presents an epidemiologic model of hepatitis C in the United States. The authors …
This article presents an epidemiologic model of hepatitis C in the United States. The authors used empirical calibration of model parameters to gain insights into uncertainty in the natural history of hepatitis C and to improve future projections. The authors identified model inputs by way of a systematic review. Model simulations were conducted and model predictions were compared with epidemiologic data on infection prevalence and mortality from liver cancer. Goodness-of-fit criteria were used to identify…
Calibration/Validation | State-Transition | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | Chronic Disease/Risk | North America -
ArticlePublication 2023Benefits and Costs of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations …
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for U.S. federal employees and healthcare and private sector workers. These mandates were controversial and some were halted by litigation. If they had been implemented as intended, the net benefits would depend on the course of the pandemic. If a more transmissible variant (such as Omicron) emerges, the net benefits may be large. If the pandemic instead fades, the benefits…
State-Transition | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | North America -
ArticlePublication 2022Vaccinations versus Lockdowns to Prevent COVID-19 Mortality
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly …
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly available datasets from the Israeli Ministry of Health were used to model the parameters of the pandemic in Israel. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker was used for quantitative data on government policies. Data on the Israeli economy were taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The models demonstrate that the first lockdown prevented 1022 COVID-19 deaths at the cost…
State-Transition | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Decision Theory | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Decision Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Middle East & North Africa -
ArticlePublication 2020Testing for SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies
Antibody testing can determine previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus. Recently, the UK government has made …
Antibody testing can determine previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus. Recently, the UK government has made antibody testing available to anyone wanting it, even if there is no clinical indication. The purpose of this article is to provide guidance for when to consider antibody testing in individuals with and without symptoms suggestive of current or past SARS-CoV-2 infection. Key points made by the authors include: (1) antibody testing is likely to be most useful 2 weeks…
Probability/Bayes | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Test Performance | Technology Assessment | Clinical Care -
ArticlePublication 2020Bayes' Theorem, COVID-19, and Screening Tests
This article reviews the implications of increased testing for COVID-19 using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain …
This article reviews the implications of increased testing for COVID-19 using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) through the application of Bayes’ Theorem for three hypothetical, stylized case scenarios. The scenarios involve three patients with a low, moderate, and high pre-test probability of COVID-19 infection. The category of low probability would include "asymptomatic individuals in a presumed low prevalence environment" and might vary from 10 to 20%. The category of moderate probability would include "individuals…
Probability/Bayes | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Test Performance | Clinical Care -
ArticlePublication 2020Interpreting COVID-19 Test Results: A Bayesian Approach
This article considers the following question with respect to interpreting the results of polymerase chain reaction …
This article considers the following question with respect to interpreting the results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays from nasal and pharyngeal swabs for COVID-19 to inform clinical decision making: "While a positive result in an acutely ill patient is straightforward, how should physicians interpret negative tests in patients with suspected COVID-19 infection?" Using an assumption of near-perfect specificity of PCR assays for COVID-19, the authors acknowledge the uncertainty of test sensitivity. They consider two clinical scenarios…
Probability/Bayes | Health/Medicine | Infectious Diseases | Test Performance | Science/Technology | Global