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.
Evidence Synthesis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2020Translating Population Evidence to Individual Patients
In this paper, the authors describe the differences in population level outcomes compared to individual …
In this paper, the authors describe the differences in population level outcomes compared to individual patients and discuss ways that these are differences. The authors cover topics including the difference between relative and absolute risk and benefit. They use an example of the decision to start anticoagulation in new-onset atrial fibrillation to discuss translating population level evidence to treatment of an individual. These options include generalizability, subgroup analysis, prediction rules, following response to therapy, and even…
Evidence Synthesis | Test Performance | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
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 | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2017Extended Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of Cardiovascular Risk Factor Reduction Policies
This chapter summarizes lessons learned from three extended cost-effectiveness analyses (ECEAs) conducted on cardiovascular disease …
This chapter summarizes lessons learned from three extended cost-effectiveness analyses (ECEAs) conducted on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor reduction policies, specifically highlighting new insights into the differential impacts of well-established CVD prevention interventions. Tobacco taxation, salt reduction, and primary prevention of CVD in high-risk individuals remain widely regarded as best buys in global noncommunicable disease policy, and the ECEAs confirm the findings of previous CEAs, namely, that these interventions will likely result in large health…
Evidence Synthesis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2018Examining Evaluation Methods for Health Equity Policies
This article reviews diverse methods for evaluating public policies that address social determinants of health …
This article reviews diverse methods for evaluating public policies that address social determinants of health equity. Understanding approaches to evaluating public policies is essential in strengthening the evidence base that informs policy change. Examining 50 studies in the article, the authors find that most studies evaluating policies for health equity outcomes use observational research designs and regression techniques to analyze impact. Furthermore, the studies reviewed primarily relied on secondary data, and nearly three out of…
Evidence Synthesis | Health Outcomes | Social Determinants | Global Governance | Government/Law | Global -
ArticlePublication 2018Equity Impact Vaccines May Have on Averting Deaths and Medical Impoverishment
In this analysis, authors estimated the number of deaths averted and the number of cases …
In this analysis, authors estimated the number of deaths averted and the number of cases of medical impoverishment averted of ten antigens and their corresponding vaccines across income quintiles for forty-one low- and middle-income countries. The study found that vaccines administered between 2016 and 2030 would prevent 36 million deaths. Vaccines will have the greatest impact on reducing cases of poverty caused by hepatitis B, helping an estimated 14 million people avoid medical impoverishment. An…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Costing Methods | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Global Governance | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Asia & Pacific -
ArticleWeb Portal 2017PLOS Collection: Economic Efficiency of HIV Services
In order to maximize the value for money for HIV services and increase efficiency without …
In order to maximize the value for money for HIV services and increase efficiency without sacrificing quality, robust and up-to-date data on costs, efficiency and its determinants are needed. This PLOS collection, Economic Efficiency of HIV Services, presents recent, high-quality evidence from low- and middle-income countries on costs and technical efficiency of HIV services and their determinants. These data contribute to the current discussion on optimizing resources for HIV services and can provide programmatic guidance for…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Operations Research | Costing Methods | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2017Revealed Willingness-to-Pay vs. Standard Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds
This study estimates the cost-effectiveness thresholds (CETs) of 16 HIV programs in South Africa. The …
This study estimates the cost-effectiveness thresholds (CETs) of 16 HIV programs in South Africa. The use of CETs based on a country’s income per capita has been criticized for not being grounded in theory or evidence, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). An alternative has been produced for South Africa, based on estimates of life years saved and the country’s committed HIV budget. The authors used a previously -published optimization method to estimate CETs,…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2017Benefit and Harm of Intensive Blood Pressure Treatment: Derivation and Validation of Risk Models Using Data from the Sprint and Accord Trials
Intensive blood pressure (BP) treatment can avert cardiovascular disease (CVD) events but can cause some …
Intensive blood pressure (BP) treatment can avert cardiovascular disease (CVD) events but can cause some serious adverse events. The authors sought to create risk calculators to estimate individual patients’ chances of benefit and harm from intensive treatment. They developed statistical models of cardiovascular events and serious adverse events from individual participant data from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) of intensive blood pressure treatment (N = 9,069 with complete covariate data) and validated them…
Evidence Synthesis | Health Outcomes | Probability/Bayes | Chronic Disease/Risk