The prediction of space radiation induced cancer risk carries large uncertainties with two of the largest uncertainties being radiation quality and dose-rate effects. In risk models the ratio of the quality factor (QF) to the dose and dose-rate reduction effectiveness factor (DDREF) parameter is used to scale organ doses for cosmic ray proton and high charge and energy (HZE) particles to a haza...

In their publication in Pharmacoeconomics Open, Akpinar et al. [1] reported the results of their review of methods for forecasting drug prices for economic evaluations. This was an interesting article, and I agreed with most of the conclusions. However, I disagree that prices forecast using the price of a close substitute on the same market may be more reliable. This conclusion may be biased be...

BACKGROUND Heart failure disease management programs can influence medical resource use and quality-adjusted survival. Because projecting long-term costs and survival is challenging, a consistent and valid approach to extrapolating short-term outcomes would be valuable. METHODS We developed the Tools for Economic Analysis of Patient Management Interventions in Heart Failure Cost-Effectiveness...

Public health systems aim to improve the health of a population at a cost whose limits are set, one way or another, by society. To ensure that the health of a population is improved, clinical procedures that are supported by scientific evidence of a more favorable outcome (risk/benefit ratio) compared to any other alternative should be used. To ensure that the outcomes are achieved at an accept...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of syndromic management, with and without periodic presumptive treatment (PPT), in averting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV in female sex workers (FSWs) participating in a hotel-based intervention in Johannesburg. STUDY DESIGN Financial and economic providers' costs were estimated. A mathematical model...

Inappropriate diets constitute an important health risk and an increasing environmental burden. Healthy regional diets may contribute to meeting this dual challenge. A palatable, healthy and sustainable New Nordic diet (NND) based on organic products from the Nordic region has been developed. This study assesses whether a large-scale introduction of NND is a cost-effective health promotion stra...

Study population The study population comprised patients who had undergone primary cadaveric kidney transplant. The study sample comprised two Neoraland three Sim-treated cohorts of patients, who were enrolled in prospective randomised doubleblind clinical trials in the USA and Europe. In addition, there was a cohort of 4,727 Sim-treated first cadaveric transplant recipients selected from the U...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of universal mass vaccination (UMV) against influenza compared with a targeted vaccine program (TVP) for selected age and risk groups in the United States. METHODS We modeled costs and outcomes of seasonal influenza with UMV and TVP, taking a societal perspective. The US population was stratified to model age-specific (< 5, 5-17, 18-49, 50-64, an...

Cost effectiveness analysis provides a tool for evaluating allocation of resources by characterising different healthcare interventions in terms of the extra cost per added unit of health benefit (box 1). Such analyses are being used increasingly to set national and international health priorities. The UK’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence, for example, is charged with guiding decisio...

BACKGROUND Vaccination is the best measure to prevent influenza. We conducted a cost-effectiveness evaluation of trivalent inactivated seasonal influenza vaccination, compared to no vaccination, in children ≤60 months of age participating in a prospective cohort study in Bangkok, Thailand. METHODS A static decision tree model was constructed to simulate the population of children in the cohor...