Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2022Comparing Health Gains, Costs & Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions in Australia & New Zealand
This paper synthesizes the health gains, costs, and cost-effectiveness of health interventions in Australia and New …
This paper synthesizes the health gains, costs, and cost-effectiveness of health interventions in Australia and New Zealand (NZ) from studies conducted with comparable methods, and reports results in the form of an online interactive league table. Studies from the Australia Cost-Effectiveness research and NZ Burden of Disease Epidemiology, Equity and Cost-Effectiveness Programmes and studies were included which reported health-adjusted life years (HALYs) and net health system costs and/or incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, used a time horizon of…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Mental Health | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Asia & Pacific | Oceania -
ArticlePublication 2022Priority Setting in Early Childhood Development: An Analytical Framework
Early childhood development (ECD) sets the foundation for healthy and successful lives with important consequences …
Early childhood development (ECD) sets the foundation for healthy and successful lives with important consequences for education, labor market outcomes, and other domains of well-being. Even though many ECD interventions are implemented and evaluated globally, there is currently no standardized framework for comparing these interventions’ relative cost-effectiveness. The investigators developed an economic evaluation framework that focuses on the immediate impact of ECD interventions targeting motor, cognitive, language, and socioemotional skills. They applied the framework to compute…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Decision Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Global -
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.
Priority Setting/Ethics | Decision Theory | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Individual and Social Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake
This article examined the individual, communication and social determinants associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake using …
This article examined the individual, communication and social determinants associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake using national survey data collected before vaccines were available in the U.S. Of note, individuals under the federal poverty level and racial and ethnic minorities were oversampled. Outcomes included the likelihood of vaccinating self and dependents (e.g., children). Independent variables included perceptions of risk, exposure to different media for COVID-19 news, political party identification, confidence in scientists and social determinants of…
Evidence Synthesis | Health Outcomes | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Clinical Care | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: The Five C's to Tackle Behavioral and Sociodemographic Factors
Reversing and mitigating the ongoing damage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic requires that 60-70% of …
Reversing and mitigating the ongoing damage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic requires that 60-70% of the world’s population needs to be vaccinated. This article acknowledges that hesitancy is one of the most substantial hurdles to vaccination uptake at levels that would achieve herd immunity. Authors define hesitancy as “a delay in acceptance or refusal despite availability.” Five factors are proposed to tackle vaccine hesitancy, referred to as the five “C’s”: Confidence (importance, safety and efficacy…
Evidence Synthesis | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America -
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 | Test Performance | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2020Bayes' Theorem, COVID-19, and Screening Tests
This article reviews the implications of increased testing for COVID-19 using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain …
This article reviews the implications of increased testing for COVID-19 using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) through the application of Bayes’ Theorem for three hypothetical, stylized case scenarios. The scenarios involve three patients with a low, moderate, and high pre-test probability of COVID-19 infection. The category of low probability would include "asymptomatic individuals in a presumed low prevalence environment" and might vary from 10 to 20%. The category of moderate probability would include "individuals…
Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
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…
Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
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.
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine