BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Thrombolysis in acute stroke is effective up to 4.5 hours after symptom onset but relies on early recognition, prompt arrival in hospital, and timely brain scanning. This study aimed to establish the cost-effectiveness of increasing thrombolysis rates through a series of hypothetical change strategies designed to optimize the acute care pathway for stroke. METHODS A dec...

AIMS To assess the cost-effectiveness of an improved automated grading algorithm for diabetic retinopathy against a previously described algorithm, and in comparison with manual grading. METHODS Efficacy of the alternative algorithms was assessed using a reference graded set of images from three screening centres in Scotland (1253 cases with observable/referable retinopathy and 6333 individua...

Many clinical practice guidelines fail to account for the preferences of the individual patient. Approaches that seek to include the preferences of the individual patient in the decision-making process (e.g., interactive videodisks for patient education), however, may incur substantial incremental costs. Developers of clinical practice guidelines must therefore determine whether it is appropria...

BACKGROUND To improve care for children in district hospitals in Kenya, a multifaceted approach employing guidelines, training, supervision, feedback, and facilitation was developed, for brevity called the Emergency Triage and Treatment Plus (ETAT+) strategy. We assessed the cost effectiveness of the ETAT+ strategy, in Kenyan hospitals. Further, we estimate the costs of scaling up the intervent...

For the Internet advertisement market, we consider a contract problem between advertisers and publishers. Among several ways of pricing online advertisements, the methods based on cost-per-impression (CPM) and cost-per-click (CPC) are the two most popular. The CPC fee is proportional to the click-through rate (CTR), which is uncertain and makes decisions of advertisers and publishers difficult....

BACKGROUND We have reported the advantageous clinical outcome of adding cognitive therapy to medication in the prevention of relapse of bipolar disorder. AIMS This 30-month study compares the cost-effectiveness of cognitive therapy with standard care. METHOD We randomly allocated 103 individuals with bipolar 1 disorder to standard treatment and cognitive therapy plus standard treatment. Ser...

A pharmaco-economic study of the administration of adjunctive therapy in patients with chronic epilepsy is described. A decision-analytic model has been used, which represents the consequences of treatment over a 1-year time period, when one of three drugs is used first. The cost-effectiveness ratio for clobazam, lamotrigine and vigabatrin have been calculated. The expected cost per patient of ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Despite the clinical benefits of using standard (non-disease specific) oral nutritional supplements (ONS) in the community and care homes, there is uncertainty about their economic consequences. METHODS A systematic review was undertaken according to recommended procedures to assess whether ONS can produce cost savings and cost-effective outcomes. RESULTS 19 publications w...

To examine the relative cost-effectiveness of single versus multiple patient education strategies to reduce hypertension, we assigned patients to seven intervention groups and to a usual-care control group using a randomized factorial design. We compared cost-effectiveness measures for single, double, and triple combinations of (a) a clinic exit interview with patients to clarify their medical ...

background hepatitis b infection is still the main cause of chronic liver disease in iran, which is associated with significant economic and social costs. objectives this study aimed to estimate the financial burden caused by chb infection and its complications in iran. results the total annual cost for the activate population of chb patients and for those receiving treatment at various disease...