Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2020Testing for SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies
Antibody testing can determine previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus. Recently, the UK government has made …
Antibody testing can determine previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus. Recently, the UK government has made antibody testing available to anyone wanting it, even if there is no clinical indication. The purpose of this article is to provide guidance for when to consider antibody testing in individuals with and without symptoms suggestive of current or past SARS-CoV-2 infection. Key points made by the authors include: (1) antibody testing is likely to be most useful 2 weeks…
Probability/Bayes | Technology Assessment | Test Performance | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
OrganizationWeb Portal 2024American Statistical Association (ASA)
The American Statistical Association (ASA) founded in 1839, is the world’s second-oldest, continuously operating professional association …
The American Statistical Association (ASA) founded in 1839, is the world’s second-oldest, continuously operating professional association in the country. The ASA has supported the development, application, and dissemination of statistical science through meetings, publications, membership services, accreditation, fellowships and grants, and advocacy. ASA provides educational materials for K–12 undergraduate and graduate faculty, statistics students, and statisticians in developing countries, including classroom resources, publications in statistics education, guidelines and reports, professional development resources, communities, competitions, programs, and resources…
Probability/Bayes | Decision Theory | Evidence Synthesis | Business/Industry | Climate/Environment | Education/Labor | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology | Global | North America -
OrganizationWeb Portal 2024International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA)
The International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA) was founded in 1992 to promote the development …
The International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA) was founded in 1992 to promote the development and application of Bayesian analysis. By sponsoring and organizing meetings, publishing the electronic journal Bayesian Analysis, and other activities, ISBA provides an international community for those interested in Bayesian analysis and its applications, and includes interest sections on topics such as biostatistics/pharmaceuticals, computation, economics/finance/business, education research/practice, environmental sciences, industrial statistics, nonparametrics and objective Bayes. Bayesian Analysis is the electronic journal…
Probability/Bayes | Decision Theory | Business/Industry | Climate/Environment | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2007Decision Analysis: A Personal Account of How It Got Started and Evolved
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement …
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement in its development. He describes the early days of Operations Research (OR) in the late 1940s with its approach to complex, strategic decision making. After reading John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1947) and Abraham Wald’s two books (1947, 1950), he became involved in statistical decision theory. A few years later, after reading Leonard…
Probability/Bayes | Decision Theory | Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Operations Research | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2008Cost-Effectiveness of Rapid Point-of-Care Prenatal Syphilis Screening in Sub-Saharan Africa
This paper investigates the cost-effectiveness of using rapid point-of-care tests for prenatal syphilis screening among …
This paper investigates the cost-effectiveness of using rapid point-of-care tests for prenatal syphilis screening among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with syphilis prevalence rates as high as 17%, and where traditional multi-test screening methods have been challenging to implement. Focusing on newly available rapid point-of-care screening tests, strategies differed by the initial test [rapid plasma reagin (RPR), immunochromographic strip (ICS)], need for confirmation with Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay, and number of visits required.…
Technology Assessment | Costing Methods | Test Performance | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Economic Value of Clinical Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in clinical applications. Nevertheless, its flexibility and difficulties around …
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in clinical applications. Nevertheless, its flexibility and difficulties around collecting data on its clinical impacts make value assessment challenging. This article uses a value framework as the basis for assessing how AI may create value depending on how it is used. Authors also provide advice to health economists seeking to model AI’s clinical impacts. There are multiple ways that AI challenges traditional health technology assessment methodology. Authors highlight several…
Technology Assessment | Value of Information | Economics/Finance | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Incorporating Equity in Infectious Disease Modeling: Measles
Deterministic compartmental models of infectious diseases like measles typically reflect biological heterogeneities in the risk …
Deterministic compartmental models of infectious diseases like measles typically reflect biological heterogeneities in the risk of infection and severity to characterize transmission dynamics. Given the known association of socioeconomic status and increased vulnerability to infection and mortality, it is also critical that such models further incorporate social heterogeneities. This article explores the influence of integrating income-associated differences in parameters of traditional dynamic transmission models. The authors developed a measles “SIR” model, in which the
Dynamic Transmission | Priority Setting/Ethics -
ArticlePublication 2022Vaccinations versus Lockdowns to Prevent COVID-19 Mortality
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly …
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly available datasets from the Israeli Ministry of Health were used to model the parameters of the pandemic in Israel. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker was used for quantitative data on government policies. Data on the Israeli economy were taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The models demonstrate that the first lockdown prevented 1022 COVID-19 deaths at the cost…
Decision Theory | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | State-Transition | Decision Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Middle East & North Africa -
ArticlePublication 2021Rational Policymaking during a Pandemic
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and …
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and its global impacts are unprecedented, decisions are taken in a highly uncertain, complex, and rapidly changing environment. In such a context, in which human lives and the economy are at stake, the authors argue that using ideas and constructs from modern decision theory, even informally, will make policymaking a more responsible and transparent process.
Decision Theory | Priority Setting/Ethics | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global