Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2020Weighing Evidence to Inform Clinical Decisions
The authors use a clinical example to simulate how treatment discussions can be complicated when new evidence is introduced …
The authors use a clinical example to simulate how treatment discussions can be complicated when new evidence is introduced that conflicts with existing guidelines. Even when evidence is consistent, the authors point out that current guidelines can have interpretations that don't agree with available evidence. They develop a step-wise algorithm to help guide individual clinical decisions even in the absence of general consensus related to appropriate testing and treatment.
Clinical Care | Priority Setting/Ethics | Evidence Synthesis | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2020Clinical Decision Making: Using a Diagnostic Test
This article is part of a 6-part series on clinical decision making. The authors use …
This article is part of a 6-part series on clinical decision making. The authors use two clinical examples to review the principles of interpreting diagnostic test results. They outline an approach that can be used to determine how to select and apply tests and their results to the practice of internal medicine. Topics covered in the two case studies include sensitivity and specificity, positive predictive and negative predictive value of tests, and how to estimate…
Clinical Care | Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2019Cost-Effectiveness of Clinic, Home, or Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurement for Hypertension Diagnosis
This study compared three methods of blood pressure (BP) measurement for diagnosing hypertension in primary …
This study compared three methods of blood pressure (BP) measurement for diagnosing hypertension in primary care settings, accounting for the possibility of false-positive (white-coat hypertension) and false-negative (masked hypertension) clinic measurements. Outcomes included quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and lifetime costs associated with clinic BP measurement, home BP monitoring, and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) under two scenarios: positive and negative initial screening. Data were from published literature, public data sources, and expert input. In the…
Mathematical Models | Clinical Care | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | North America -
Resource PackWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2018Resource Pack: Cervical Cancer Models
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, is a collection of …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, is a collection of models of HPV-related cervical cancer, differing in design, structure and features based on analytic objectives. In many ways, HPV and its related diseases represent a prototypical public health problem given the communicable and non-communicable nature of disease, opportunities for intervention along the entire disease spectrum (e.g., primary and secondary prevention, diagnosis, treatment), the varied ages at which interventions are targeted…
Mathematical Models | Clinical Care | State-Transition | Dynamic Transmission | Microsimulation | Calibration/Validation | Dynamic Simulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
ReportPublication 2013Decision and Simulation Modeling Alongside Systematic Reviews
This chapter is part of a report entitled, Decision and Simulation Modeling in Systematic Reviews, that seeks …
This chapter is part of a report entitled, Decision and Simulation Modeling in Systematic Reviews, that seeks to provide guidance for determining when incorporating a decision-analytic model alongside a systemic review would be of added value for decision making purposes. The chapter discusses the role of decision analysis and decision-analytic models in health care, specifically within the context of the current emphasis on evidence-based medicine and the proliferation of systematic reviews. It describes the types of model available…
Clinical Care | Evidence Synthesis | State-Transition | Dynamic Transmission | Microsimulation | Dynamic Simulation | Health Systems | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2017Changing the South African National ART Guidelines: The Role of Cost Modelling
This analysis was motivated by the South African Department of Health's request to assess the …
This analysis was motivated by the South African Department of Health's request to assess the cost implications of adopting sets of ART guidelines issued by the World Health Organization between 2010 and 2016.Using data from large South African ART clinics (n = 24,244 patients), projections of patients in need of ART, and cost data from bottom-up cost analyses, the authors constructed a population-level health-state transition model with 6-monthly transitions between health states depending on patients’ age,…
Clinical Care | Costing Methods | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2017Costs of Facility-Based HIV Testing in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Providing HIV testing at health facilities remains the most common approach to ensuring access to …
Providing HIV testing at health facilities remains the most common approach to ensuring access to HIV treatment and prevention services for the millions of undiagnosed HIV-infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors sought to explore the costs of providing these services across three southern African countries with high HIV burden.Primary costing studies were undertaken in 54 health facilities providing HIV testing services (HTS) in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Routinely collected monitoring and evaluation data for…
Clinical Care | Costing Methods | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ReviewPublication 2017Use of Mathematical Models of Chlamydia Transmission to Address Public Health Policy Questions
This review provides an overview of chlamydia transmission models and offers perspective on how mathematical …
This review provides an overview of chlamydia transmission models and offers perspective on how mathematical modeling has responded over time to additional empirical evidence in order to address policy questions related to prevention of chlamydia infection. The authors reviewed published chlamydia models to understand the range of approaches used for policy analyses and how the studies have responded to developments in the field. The authors identified 47 publications reporting on 29 mathematical models through a…
Mathematical Models | Clinical Care | State-Transition | Dynamic Transmission | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReviewPublication 2016Cochrane Review: Strategies to Improve the Implementation of Obesity Prevention
Despite the existence of effective interventions and best-practice guideline recommendations for childcare services to implement …
Despite the existence of effective interventions and best-practice guideline recommendations for childcare services to implement policies, practices, and programs to promote child healthy eating, physical activity, and prevent unhealthy weight gain, many services fail to do so. The primary aim of the review was to examine the effectiveness of strategies aimed to improve the implementation of policies, practices, or programs by childcare services that promote child healthy eating, physical activity, and/or obesity prevention. The secondary…
Clinical Care | Evidence Synthesis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | Global