OBJECTIVES This study assessed the relative effectiveness and cost effectiveness of television, radio and print advertisements to generate calls to the New York smokers' quitline. METHODS Regression analysis was used to link total county level monthly quitline calls to television, radio and print advertising expenditures. Based on regression results, standardised measures of the relative effe...

This review assesses the range and quality of the evidence base on the cost-effectiveness of malaria prevention and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen studies are reviewed, covering insecticide-treated nets, residual spraying, chemoprophylaxis for children, chemoprophylaxis or intermittent treatment for pregnant women, a hypothetical vaccine, and changing the first line drug for treatmen...

The concept of the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) provides a simple technical tool for summarising the impact a medical condition has on someone's life and the impact a health care intervention can have on that medical condition. In the former case, QALYs (and related concepts, such as disability-adjusted life years, DALYs) have been useful in producing summary statistics on the burden of di...

BACKGROUND The effectiveness of individual components (other than exercise) of multifactorial intervention packages aimed to reduce the incidence of falls in older people is uncertain. There have been no randomised trials of home modifications alone for the prevention of falls. OBJECTIVES To estimate the cost-effectiveness of just one component of a multifactorial approach to falls prevention...

BACKGROUND Effectiveness of Internet-based self-management in patients with asthma has been shown, but its cost-effectiveness is unknown. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of Internet-based asthma self-management compared with usual care. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomized controlled trial, with 12 months follow-up. Patients were age...

The shortage of resources for providing renal replacement makes it essential to reduce revenue costs wherever possible. Assuming that haemodialysis is likely to remain a mainstay of renal replacement, a policy of reusing the expensive disposable dialysers and blood lines could offer substantial cost savings. Such reuse has been shown to be safe and to maintain efficiency, but it must also take ...

In this article health economic implications of screening are analysed. First, requirements screening programmes should fulfil are derived, and methodical standards of health economic evaluation are outlined.Using the example of newborn hearing screening, it is then examined if empirical studies meet the methodical requirements of health economic evaluation. Some deficits are realised: Health e...

BACKGROUND In India 3.8 million people become blind due to cataracts every year. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of public-funded options for delivering cataract surgery in Mysore, Karnataka State, India. METHODS Three types of delivery of cataract surgery were studied: mobile government camps, walk-in services at a state medical college hospital, and patients transported in from satellite...