Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2021Racial and Ethnic Inequities in the Early Distribution of U.S. COVID-19 Testing Sites and Mortality
In 2020, U.S. COVID-19 testing sites were pivotal not just for diagnosis but also to …
In 2020, U.S. COVID-19 testing sites were pivotal not just for diagnosis but also to provide data that would contribute to understanding transmission. This research explored how these sites were distributed in relation to racial and ethnic demographics and its connection to observed disparities in COVID-19 outcomes. Data from mid-April to late May 2020 revealed that testing sites were not equally distributed among racial groups. Specifically, there was an overrepresentation of testing sites in areas…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Policy/Regulation | Social Determinants | Health Outcomes | Infectious Diseases | Culture/Society | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Individual and Social Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake
This article examined the individual, communication and social determinants associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake using …
This article examined the individual, communication and social determinants associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake using national survey data collected before vaccines were available in the U.S. Of note, individuals under the federal poverty level and racial and ethnic minorities were oversampled. Outcomes included the likelihood of vaccinating self and dependents (e.g., children). Independent variables included perceptions of risk, exposure to different media for COVID-19 news, political party identification, confidence in scientists and social determinants of…
Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine | Policy/Regulation | Social Determinants | Health Outcomes | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Culture/Society | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2022Modeling the Relative Risk of Incidence and Mortality of Select Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Immunization is one of the most effective public health interventions, saving millions of lives every …
Immunization is one of the most effective public health interventions, saving millions of lives every year. Ethiopia has seen gradual improvements in immunization coverage and access to child health care services; however, inequalities in child mortality across wealth quintiles and regions remain persistent. This paper models the relative distributional incidence and mortality of four vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) (rotavirus diarrhea, human papillomavirus, measles, and pneumonia) by wealth quintile and geographic region in Ethiopia. The authors approach…
Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine | Social Determinants | Priority Setting/Ethics | Infectious Diseases | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Conceptualizing Monetary Benchmarks for Health Investments toward Poverty Reduction
Public spending can improve population well-being, for example, by averting or reducing poverty. This article …
Public spending can improve population well-being, for example, by averting or reducing poverty. This article aims to conceptualize monetary benchmarks for health sector investments oriented towards poverty alleviation in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Priority setting in low- and lower-middle-income countries could be informed by health-sector PRBs (poverty reduction benchmarks), in addition to burden of disease and cost-effectiveness considerations. The computed PRBs, expressed in dollars per poverty case averted, can possibly be viewed in a manner…
Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine | Social Determinants | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: The Five C's to Tackle Behavioral and Sociodemographic Factors
Reversing and mitigating the ongoing damage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic requires that 60-70% of …
Reversing and mitigating the ongoing damage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic requires that 60-70% of the world’s population needs to be vaccinated. This article acknowledges that hesitancy is one of the most substantial hurdles to vaccination uptake at levels that would achieve herd immunity. Authors define hesitancy as “a delay in acceptance or refusal despite availability.” Five factors are proposed to tackle vaccine hesitancy, referred to as the five “C’s”: Confidence (importance, safety and efficacy…
Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Infectious Diseases | Culture/Society | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Health Opportunity Cost Threshold for CEA in the U.S.
Using a modeled cohort of 100,000 individuals in the United States with private health insurance, …
Using a modeled cohort of 100,000 individuals in the United States with private health insurance, the authors simulated the short-term mortality and morbidity resulting from increased premium related cancelation of insurance coverage. The authors used this model to estimate cost-effectiveness thresholds, in dollars per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained based on health opportunity costs. They reported the number of persons who dropped insurance coverage, resulting number of additional deaths and QALYs lost from mortality and…
Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine | Policy/Regulation | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health Systems | North America -
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 | Health/Medicine | Policy/Regulation | Probability/Bayes | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Government/Law | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2018Comparing Cost-per-QALYs Gained to Cost-per-DALYs Averted
The authors examined 6,438 cost-per-QALY and 543 cost-per-DALY studies published through 2016 using two databases, …
The authors examined 6,438 cost-per-QALY and 543 cost-per-DALY studies published through 2016 using two databases, the Tufts Medical Center CEA Registry (cost-per-QALY gained studies), and the Global Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (GHCEA) Registry (cost-per-DALY averted studies). Study characteristics that were analyzed included intervention type, sponsor, country, primary disease, and number of CEAs versus disease burden estimates for major conditions. The authors report that cost-per-QALY studies were most often about pharmaceuticals or interventions in high-income countries while cost-per-DALY…
Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine | Policy/Regulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Global -
ArticlePublication 2016Using Cost-Effectiveness Evidence to Inform Health Service Provision
This article discusses three challenges of using cost-effectiveness thresholds to inform whether a third-party payer …
This article discusses three challenges of using cost-effectiveness thresholds to inform whether a third-party payer will fund a particular service. First, how is the appropriate cost-effectiveness threshold - or threshold range - to be determined? (And should there be a single threshold or multiple thresholds?) Second, how can the valuation of health benefits be refined to better capture the value of treatments to patients and to the economy as a whole? Third, how should a…
Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine | Policy/Regulation | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Global