Resources Repository
-
ArticlePublication 2021Impact of Treatment and Imaging Modalities on Global Breast Cancer Survival
This analysis used a microsimulation model of global cancer survival to simulate 5-year net survival …
This analysis used a microsimulation model of global cancer survival to simulate 5-year net survival for women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in 200 countries/territories in 2018, accounting for the availability and stage-specific survival impact of specific treatment modalities (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and targeted therapy), imaging modalities (ultrasound, x-ray, CT, MRI, PET, and single-photon emission computed tomography [SPECT]), and quality of cancer care. The model was calibrated to empirical data on 5-year net breast cancer…
Calibration/Validation | Health Systems | Health Outcomes | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk | Clinical Care | Global -
ArticlePublication 2020Infectious Disease Pandemic Planning and Response: Incorporating Decision Analysis
During a pandemic, decisions must be made under rapidly changing, uncertain conditions. Despite advances in …
During a pandemic, decisions must be made under rapidly changing, uncertain conditions. Despite advances in analytical methods for gaining early situational awareness (i.e., of a disease’s transmissibility and severity) and for predicting the likely effectiveness of interventions, a major gap exists globally in terms of integrating this information in policy documents. The authors argue that mathematical and statistical models are important tools for pandemic planning and response. Once an outbreak of pandemic potential has been…
Mathematical Models | Health Systems | Decision Analysis | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2020Online Competition between Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Views
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, …
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID-19, for example, could amplify outbreaks as happened for measles in 2019. Homemade remedies and falsehoods are being shared widely on the Internet, as well as dismissals of expert advice. There is a lack of understanding about how this distrust evolves at the system level. Authors provide a map of the contention surrounding vaccines that has…
Preferences/Values | Health Systems | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | 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…
Technology Assessment | Health Systems | Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2020Incorporating Perspective into Clinical Decisions
Part of a six-part series of articles on clinical decision making, in this article, the …
Part of a six-part series of articles on clinical decision making, in this article, the authors discuss how to incorporate perspective into clinical decisions, explicitly acknowledging that the treating physician is not the only stakeholder in these decisions. The authors use 2 case studies to demonstrate how changes in perspective can alter the clinical decision as well lead to both intended and unintended consequences to the outcomes.
Preferences/Values | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2017Catastrophic Costs Potentially Averted by TB Control in India and South Africa
This study estimated the reduction in tuberculosis-related catastrophic costs with an aggressive expansion of tuberculosis …
This study estimated the reduction in tuberculosis-related catastrophic costs with an aggressive expansion of tuberculosis services in India and South Africa from 2016 to 2035, in line with the End TB Strategy. The authors investigated three intervention scenarios: improved treatment of drug-sensitive tuberculosis; improved treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis; and expansion of access to tuberculosis care through intensified case finding (South Africa only). In India and South Africa, improvements in treatment for drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis…
Mathematical Models | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2019Health and Financial Benefits of Averting Malaria in Zambia: An ECEA
This study used the extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) to examine impact of the hypothetical rollout …
This study used the extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) to examine impact of the hypothetical rollout of the malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 in Zambia on the health benefits of children under five, and financial benefits on their households. The authors assumed a three-dose vaccination schedule (over 6-9 months), and vaccine cost of US$5 per dose. To assess vaccine impact, for each income quintile, they computed the number of under-five malaria deaths prevented, the household out-of-pocket (OOP) malaria-related…
Mathematical Models | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2019Spatial Distribution and Characteristics of HIV
This article, published in Tropical Medicine & International Health, aims to identify the spatial and …
This article, published in Tropical Medicine & International Health, aims to identify the spatial and temporal trends, and epidemiologic correlates, of HIV clusters in Ethiopia. The authors use biomarker and survey data from the 2005, 2011, and 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), and the spatial-temporal distribution of HIV is estimated using the Kulldorff spatial scan statistic, a likelihood-based method for determining clustering. The study results indicate that in Ethiopia, geographic HIV clusters are…
Mathematical Models | Health Systems | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2019Modelling Hospital Operations from Paper Registry Data
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to evaluate operations management techniques, which are …
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to evaluate operations management techniques, which are underutilized in the Ethiopian health system. Previous research has outlined the limitations of paper-based patient records, but few studies have examined their potential utility for improving management of hospital operations. The authors use data collected from paper registries in an Ethiopian obstetrics ward at Addis Ababa’s Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia’s largest university hospital, to model the ward’s operations. The…
Mathematical Models | Health Systems | Operations Research | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa