Resources Repository
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ReviewPublication 2012Applying Decision Science to Managing National Forests
This publication is an example of the application of decision science to the management of …
This publication is an example of the application of decision science to the management of federal public forests, in particular to meet sustainability goals and multiple use regulations. Through three case studies, the authors describe four stages of a decision analytic approach: problem structuring (framing the problem and defining objectives and evaluation criteria), problem analysis (defining alternatives, evaluating likely consequences, identifying key uncertainties, and analyzing tradeoffs), decision point (identifying the preferred alternative), and implementation and monitoring…
Risk Analysis | Decision Analysis | Value of Information | Environmental Health | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Government/Law -
ArticlePublication 2020Premature Deaths, Statistical Lives, and Years of Life
This article clarifies some misconceptions about mortality risk and economic valuation. The mortality effects of …
This article clarifies some misconceptions about mortality risk and economic valuation. The mortality effects of exposure to environmental hazards such as air pollution are often described by the estimated number of “premature deaths” and the economic value of an exposure reduction as the number of “statistical lives saved” multiplied by the “value per statistical life.” These terms can be misleading because the number of deaths advanced by exposure cannot be determined from mortality data; it…
Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Environmental Health | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ReviewPublication 2017Quality of Life as an Outcome of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
The recent opioid epidemic has prompted renewed interest in opioid use disorder treatment, but there …
The recent opioid epidemic has prompted renewed interest in opioid use disorder treatment, but there is little evidence regarding health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) outcomes in treatment programs. Measuring HRQoL represents an opportunity to consider outcomes of opioid use disorder treatment that are more patient-centered and more relevant to overall health than abstinence alone. This systematic literature review explores the extent to which the collection of HRQoL by opioid treatment programs is documented in the treatment program literature.…
Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Mental Health | Evidence Synthesis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2017Reduced Burden of Childhood Diarrheal Diseases through Increased Access to Water and Sanitation in India: Modeling Analysis
This analysis estimates the health and economic benefits of scaling up the coverage of piped …
This analysis estimates the health and economic benefits of scaling up the coverage of piped water and improved sanitation to a near-universal 95% level among Indian households. The authors used an agent-based microsimulation platform, IndiaSim, to model disease progression and individual healthcare-seeking behavior in India, and use ECEA to estimate health and economic outcomes over time. They found that scaling up access to piped water and improved sanitation could avert 43,352 diarrheal episodes and 68…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Environmental Health | Costing Methods | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Social Determinants | Economics/Finance | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2016Estimating Benefits of Regulations Affecting Addictive Goods
The question of how to evaluate lost consumer surplus in benefit−cost analyses is controversial. There …
The question of how to evaluate lost consumer surplus in benefit−cost analyses is controversial. There are clear health benefits of regulations that curb consumption of goods with health risks, such as tobacco products and foods high in fats, calories, sugar, and sodium. Yet, if regulations cause consumers to give up goods they like, the health benefits they experience may be offset by some utility loss, which benefit−cost analyses of regulations need to take into account.…
Preferences/Values | Decision Theory | Mental Health | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Health/Medicine -
ReviewPublication 2016Strengthening Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Public Health Policy
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the …
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the conditions in which we live and work: safe design and maintenance of roads, bridges, train tracks, and airports; control of environmental pollutants; occupational safety; healthy buildings; a safe and healthy food supply; safe manufacture of consumer products; a healthy social environment; and others. Faced with the overwhelming array of possibilities, U.S. decision makers need help identifying those that can contribute the…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Environmental Health | Costing Methods | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2016Measuring Benefits of Opioid Misuse Treatment: HRQOL of Opioid-Dependent Individuals and Spouses
This study sought to understand how the general public views the quality of life effects …
This study sought to understand how the general public views the quality of life effects of opioid misuse and opioid use disorder on an individual and his/her spouse, measured in terms used in economic evaluations. The study design was a cross-sectional internet survey of a US population-representative respondent panel conducted December 2013-January 2014, with a total of 2054 randomly selected adults, of whom 51.1% were male. The mean individual utility ranged from 0.574 for active injection…
Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Mental Health | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2015Extended Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Treatment and Prevention of Diarrhoea in Ethiopia
This article, published in BMJ Open, aims to illustrate the size and distribution of benefits …
This article, published in BMJ Open, aims to illustrate the size and distribution of benefits due to the treatment and prevention of diarrhoea (i.e., rotavirus vaccination) in Ethiopia. The authors use an economic model to examine the impacts of universal public finance (UPF) of diarrhoeal treatment alone, as opposed to diarrhoeal treatment along with rotavirus vaccination using extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA). The study finds that diarrhoeal treatment paired with rotavirus vaccination is more cost effective…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Environmental Health | Costing Methods | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2006Can Discrete Event Simulation be of Use in Modeling Major Depression?
This article, published in Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, reviews the published literature on Markov …
This article, published in Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, reviews the published literature on Markov models in depression and identified potential limitations in using this particular modelling approach in this disease area. Additionally, the authors develop a “Discrete Event Simulation” (DES) model to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of this simulation method compared with Markov modelling techniques. The findings of this study indicate that the most important limitation of using Markov models in depression is…
Decision Analysis | State-Transition | Mental Health | Microsimulation | Health/Medicine