Resources Repository
-
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2014Maths and Our Health
This learning module provides teaching packs to explore biomedical real-world applications of probability and statistics …
This learning module provides teaching packs to explore biomedical real-world applications of probability and statistics in decision-making. Each pack provides videos and supplemental materials, including presentations, worksheets, and games. Topics include: “Eating Bacon Sandwiches is Bad for You!” Evaluating Risk Epidemics: Modelling with Mathematics Life Saving Maths: How Does Vaccination Work? The Economics of Health: How Do We Decide? The Test is Positive: But What Are the Odds It’s Wrong?
Test Performance | Decision Analysis | Global | Infectious Diseases | Decision Theory | Mathematical Models | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Middle School | High School | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
BookPublication 1980Clinical Decision Analysis
This text was conceived and developed in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health …
This text was conceived and developed in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health at the Center for the Analysis of Health Practices. The book had its origins in a set of classroom materials developed during the academic year 1974-75 for an elective course in medical decision making at the Harvard Medical School. In this book students are shown how to structure clinical decision problems, how to systematically formulate the intertwining roles of diagnosis and treatment, how to…
Test Performance | Decision Analysis | Global | Infectious Diseases | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Value of Information | State-Transition | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | North America | Europe | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Global | Infectious Diseases | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021New Microsimulation Models to Inform Cervical Cancer Control
Health decision models consider the lifetime natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and pathogenesis …
Health decision models consider the lifetime natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and pathogenesis of cervical cancer, and estimate the long-term impact of preventive interventions. We propose a new health decision modeling framework that de-emphasizes previously used cytologic-colposcopic-histologic diagnoses, which are subjective and lack reproducibility, relying instead on HPV type and duration of infection as the major determinants of model transition probabilities. We posit that new model health states and corollary transitions are universal,…
Decision Analysis | Global | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | Microsimulation | Calibration/Validation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2020Valuing COVID-19 Mortality Risk
In this article, the author evaluates whether conventional estimates of the value per statistical life …
In this article, the author evaluates whether conventional estimates of the value per statistical life (VSL) in the United States (about $10 million) are appropriate for evaluating policies that affect risk of COVID-19. This estimate may be too large, because: (1) VSL estimates marginal values but COVID-19 risks can be non-marginal; (2) VSL is estimated for the average resident, but COVID-19 mortality is concentrated among the elderly; and (3) the pandemic has caused substantial losses…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Global | Infectious Diseases | Preferences/Values | Government/Law -
EditorialPublication 2020Waiting for Certainty on COVID-19 Antibody Tests — At What Cost?
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation …
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation policy to reduce COVID-19 transmission. For example: Could we screen for serologic antibodies as a proxy for possible immunity and identify people who could return to the workplace with less severe mitigation measures? The authors acknowledge the uncertainties raised by many policy actors, including the WHO, such as, "Do antibodies confer immunity and, if so, for how long? How accurate is…
Test Performance | Global | Infectious Diseases | Probability/Bayes | Technology Assessment | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
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…
Test Performance | Global | Infectious Diseases | Probability/Bayes | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2019Cost-Effectiveness of Latent TB Screening before Immigration to Low-Incidence Countries
Despite prospective migrants to countries where the incidence of TB is low receiving TB screening …
Despite prospective migrants to countries where the incidence of TB is low receiving TB screening for active infections, screening for latent TB infection before immigration is rare. The authors used discrete event simulation to evaluate the cost-effectiveness preimmigration latent TB infection screening for migrants to low-incidence countries. They calculated cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained for migrants from countries with different TB incidences. Their analysis when combined with research on sustainability, acceptability, and program implementation can…
Dynamic Simulation | Global | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ReportPublication 2017DCP3: Improving Health and Reducing Poverty
This report from the World Bank is the ninth and final volume of the Disease …
This report from the World Bank is the ninth and final volume of the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) series. It provides an overview of the findings and methods explored in the first eight volumes, placing them within a framework that identifies an efficient pathway toward essential universal health coverage through the implementation of 21 essential packages that include health interventions and fiscal and intersectoral policies. The Disease Control Priorities Network (DCP) promotes and…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Global | Infectious Diseases | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Mental Health | Injuries/Accidents | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Global Governance | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology