Resources Repository
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BookPublication 2014Decision Making in Health and Medicine: Integrating Evidence and Values
Decision making in health care involves consideration of a complex set of diagnostic, therapeutic and …
Decision making in health care involves consideration of a complex set of diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic uncertainties. Medical therapies have side effects, surgical interventions may lead to complications, and diagnostic tests can produce misleading results. Furthermore, patient values and service costs must be considered. Decisions in clinical and health policy require careful weighing of risks and benefits and are commonly a trade-off of competing objectives: maximizing quality of life vs maximizing life expectancy vs minimizing…
Mathematical Models | Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Global | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Value of Information | Decision Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | North America | Europe | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2023Resource Pack: Diagnostic Tests, Bayes, and COVID-19
This resource pack provides a curated set of articles, perspectives, and interactives about diagnostic testing …
This resource pack provides a curated set of articles, perspectives, and interactives about diagnostic testing for COVID-19. The pack provides materials that will be particularly useful for educators who are teaching diagnostic test performance, value of information, and probability revision using Bayes’ theorem. The majority of papers focus on PCR or rapid antigen testing on samples obtained from the respiratory tract by nasopharyngeal swab. The mechanism of false negative results (e.g., timing of sample collection…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Global | Probability/Bayes | Value of Information | Decision Analysis | Science/Technology | High School | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Graphics/Visualization | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2023Simulation-Based Comparative Effectiveness Analysis of Policies to Improve Global Maternal Health Outcomes
The Sustainable Development Goals include a target to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) …
The Sustainable Development Goals include a target to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030, with no individual country exceeding 140. However, on current trends the goals are unlikely to be met. The authors used an empirically calibrated Global Maternal Health microsimulation model, which simulates individual women in 200 countries and territories to evaluate the impact of different interventions and strategies from 2022…
Mathematical Models | Health/Medicine | Global | Health Outcomes | Microsimulation | Calibration/Validation | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Health Systems | Clinical Care -
DataPublication 2023Trends in Maternal Mortality 2000 to 2020
This report presents global, regional, and country-level estimates and trends for maternal mortality between 2000 …
This report presents global, regional, and country-level estimates and trends for maternal mortality between 2000 and 2020 produced by the United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG).* The estimates are intended to inform progress in maternal mortality to support national efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1, to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. The report is accompanied by a set of country…
Mathematical Models | Health/Medicine | Global | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Maternal/Reproductive Health -
ArticlePublication 2010Alternative Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in India: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
This article, published in PLoS Medicine, conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of strategies to improve pregnancy …
This article, published in PLoS Medicine, conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of strategies to improve pregnancy and childbirth safety in India. Country- and region-specific data were synthesized using a computer-based model that simulates the natural history of pregnancy and pregnancy-associated complications in individual women, and considers delivery location, attendant, and facility level. Model validation compared projected maternal indicators with empiric data. Strategies consisted of improving coverage of effective interventions that could be provided individually or packaged…
Mathematical Models | Health/Medicine | Global | Evidence Synthesis | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Economics/Finance | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2023Cost-Effectiveness of Novel TB Vaccines: A Modeling Study
A modeling study assessed future costs, cost-savings, and cost-effectiveness of introducing novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccines …
A modeling study assessed future costs, cost-savings, and cost-effectiveness of introducing novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccines in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for a range of product characteristics and delivery strategies, compared to a ‘no-new-vaccine’ counterfactual. Vaccine scenarios considered two vaccine product profiles (one targeted at infants, one at adolescents/adults), both assumed to prevent progression to active TB. Vaccine introduction was estimated to require substantial near-term resources, offset by future cost-savings from averted TB burden.…
Mathematical Models | Health/Medicine | Global | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance -
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/Medicine | Global | Decision Analysis | Health Systems | 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 | Health/Medicine | Global | Probability/Bayes | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | 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 | Health/Medicine | Global | Probability/Bayes | Infectious Diseases | Science/Technology