scholarly journals Ranking Preventive Interventions from Different Policy Domains: What Are the Most Cost-Effective Ways to Improve Public Health?

Author(s):  
Nina van der Vliet ◽  
Anita W.M. Suijkerbuijk ◽  
Adriana T. de Blaeij ◽  
G. Ardine de Wit ◽  
Paul F. van Gils ◽  
...  

It is widely acknowledged that in order to promote public health and prevent diseases, a wide range of scientific disciplines and sectors beyond the health sector need to be involved. Evidence-based interventions, beyond preventive health interventions targeting disease risk factors and interventions from other sectors, should be developed and implemented. Investing in these preventive health policies is challenging as budgets have to compete with other governmental expenditures. The current study aimed to identify, compare and rank cost-effective preventive interventions targeting metabolic, environmental, occupational and behavioral risk factors. To identify these interventions, a literature search was performed including original full economic evaluations of Western country interventions that had not yet been implemented in the Netherlands. Several workshops were held with experts from different disciplines. In total, 51 different interventions (including 13 cost saving interventions) were identified and ranked based on their incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and potential averted disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), resulting in two rankings of the most cost-effective interventions and one ranking of the 13 cost saving interventions. This approach, resulting in an intersectoral ranking, can assist policy makers in implementing cost-effective preventive action that considers not only the health sector, but also other sectors.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Ssegonja ◽  
F Sampaio ◽  
I Alaie ◽  
A Philipson ◽  
L Hagberg ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Adolescent depression has negative health and economic outcomes in the short- and long-term. Indicated preventive interventions, in particular group based cognitive behavioural therapy (GB-CBT), are effective in preventing depression in adolescents with subsyndromal depression. However, little is known about the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. Methods A Markov cohort model was used to conduct cost-effectiveness analyses comparing a GB-CBT indicated preventive intervention for depression, to a no-intervention option. Taking a time horizon of 5- and 10 years, incremental differences in societal costs and health benefits expressed as cases of depression prevented, and as quality adjusted life years (QALYs) gained were estimated. Through univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses, the robustness of the results was explored. Costs, presented in 2018 USD, and effects were discounted at a yearly rate of 3%. Results The base-case analysis showed that GB-CBT indicated preventive intervention incurred lower costs, prevented more cases of depression and generated higher QALYs compared to the no-intervention option for both time horizons. Offering the intervention was even a cost saving strategy and demonstrated a probability of being cost-effective of over 95%. In the sensitivity analyses, these results were robust to the modelling assumptions. Limitations: The study considered a homogeneous cohort and assumed a constant annual decay rate of the relative treatment effect. Conclusions GB-CBT indicated preventive interventions for depression in adolescence can generate good value for money compared to leaving adolescents with subsyndromal depression untreated. Key messages Indicated preventive interventions for depression are cost-saving and can generate substantial health benefits. Indicated preventive interventions can be adopted as cost-effective preventive strategies for depression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Flook ◽  
C. Jackson ◽  
E. Vasileiou ◽  
C. R. Simpson ◽  
M. D. Muckian ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has challenged public health agencies globally. In order to effectively target government responses, it is critical to identify the individuals most at risk of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), developing severe clinical signs, and mortality. We undertook a systematic review of the literature to present the current status of scientific knowledge in these areas and describe the need for unified global approaches, moving forwards, as well as lessons learnt for future pandemics. Methods Medline, Embase and Global Health were searched to the end of April 2020, as well as the Web of Science. Search terms were specific to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19. Comparative studies of risk factors from any setting, population group and in any language were included. Titles, abstracts and full texts were screened by two reviewers and extracted in duplicate into a standardised form. Data were extracted on risk factors for COVID-19 disease, severe disease, or death and were narratively and descriptively synthesised. Results One thousand two hundred and thirty-eight papers were identified post-deduplication. Thirty-three met our inclusion criteria, of which 26 were from China. Six assessed the risk of contracting the disease, 20 the risk of having severe disease and ten the risk of dying. Age, gender and co-morbidities were commonly assessed as risk factors. The weight of evidence showed increasing age to be associated with severe disease and mortality, and general comorbidities with mortality. Only seven studies presented multivariable analyses and power was generally limited. A wide range of definitions were used for disease severity. Conclusions The volume of literature generated in the short time since the appearance of SARS-CoV-2 has been considerable. Many studies have sought to document the risk factors for COVID-19 disease, disease severity and mortality; age was the only risk factor based on robust studies and with a consistent body of evidence. Mechanistic studies are required to understand why age is such an important risk factor. At the start of pandemics, large, standardised, studies that use multivariable analyses are urgently needed so that the populations most at risk can be rapidly protected. Registration This review was registered on PROSPERO as CRD42020177714.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Parackal ◽  
Jean-Eric Tarride ◽  
Feng Xie ◽  
Gord Blackhouse ◽  
Jennifer Hoogenes ◽  
...  

Introduction: Recent health technology assessments (HTAs) of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in Ontario and Alberta, Canada, resulted in opposite recommendations, calling into question whether benefits of RARP offset the upfront investment. Therefore, the study objectives were to conduct a cost-utility analysis from a Canadian public payer perspective to determine the cost-effectiveness of RARP. Methods: Using a 10-year time horizon, a five-state Markov model was developed to compare RARP to open radical prostatectomy (ORP). Clinical parameters were derived from Canadian observational studies and a recently published systematic review. Costs, resource utilization, and utility values from recent Canadian sources were used to populate the model. Results were presented in terms of increment costs per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained. A probabilistic analysis was conducted, and uncertainty was represented using cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEACs). One-way sensitivity analyses were also conducted. Future costs and QALYs were discounted at 1.5%. Results: Total cost of RARP and ORP were $47 033 and $45 332, respectively. Total estimated QALYs were 7.2047 and 7.1385 for RARP and ORP, respectively. The estimated incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) was $25 704 in the base-case analysis. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50 000 and $100 000 per QALY gained, the probability of RARP being cost-effective was 0.65 and 0.85, respectively. The model was most sensitive to the time horizon. Conclusions: The results of this analysis suggest that RARP is likely to be cost-effective in this Canadian patient population. The results are consistent with Alberta’s HTA recommendation and other economic evaluations, but challenges Ontario’s reimbursement decision.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 45-76
Author(s):  
Richard Pankomera ◽  
Darelle Van Greunen

Although Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the healthcare sector are extensively deployed globally, they are not used effectively in developing countries. Many resource poor countries face numerous challenges in implementing the ICT interventions. For instance, many health applications that have been deployed are not user-centric. As a result, such ICT interventions do not benefit many health consumers. The lack of an ICT framework to support patient-centric healthcare services in Malawi renders the e-health and mhealth interventions less sustainable and less cost effective. The aim of the study was therefore to develop an ICT Framework that could support patient-centric healthcare services in the public health sector in Malawi. The comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews highlighted many challenges underlying ICT development in Malawi. An ICT framework for patient-centric healthcare services is therefore proposed to ensure that eHealth and mobile health interventions are more sustainable and cost effective. The framework was validated by five experts selected from different areas of expertise including mhealth application developers, ICT policy makers and public health practitioners. Results show that the framework is relevant, useful and applicable within the setting of Malawi. The framework can also be implemented in various countries with similar settings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma E. Shields ◽  
Jamie Elvidge

AbstractEconomic evaluations help decision-makers faced with tough decisions on how to allocate resources. Systematic reviews of economic evaluations are useful as they allow readers to assess whether interventions have been demonstrated to be cost effective, the uncertainty in the evidence base, and key limitations or gaps in the evidence base. The synthesis of systematic reviews of economic evaluations commonly takes a narrative approach whereas a meta-analysis is common step for reviews of clinical evidence (e.g. effectiveness or adverse event outcomes). As they are common objectives in other reviews, readers may query why a synthesis has not been attempted for economic outcomes. However, a meta-analysis of incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, costs, or health benefits (including quality-adjusted life years) is fraught with issues largely due to heterogeneity across study designs and methods and further practical challenges. Therefore, meta-analysis is rarely feasible or robust. This commentary outlines these issues, supported by examples from the literature, to support researchers and reviewers considering systematic review of economic evidence.


Author(s):  
Néboa Zozaya ◽  
Margarita Capel ◽  
Susana Simón ◽  
Alfonso Soto-González

The approval of new non-insulin treatments has broadened the therapeutic arsenal, but it has also increased the complexity of choice for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). The objective of this study was to systematically review the literature on economic evaluations associated with non-insulin antidiabetic drugs (NIADs) for DM2. We searched in Medline, IBECS, Doyma and SciELO databases for full economic evaluations of NIADs in adults with DM2 applied after the failure of the first line of pharmacological treatment, published between 2010 and 2017, focusing on studies that incorporated quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The review included a total of 57 studies, in which 134 comparisons were made between NIADs. Under an acceptability threshold of 25,000 euros per QALY gained, iSLGT-2 were preferable to iDPP-4 and sulfonylureas in terms of incremental cost-utility. By contrast, there were no conclusive comparative results for the other two new NIAD groups (GLP-1 and iDPP-4). The heterogeneity of the studies’ methodologies and results hindered our ability to determine under what specific clinical assumptions some NIADs would be more cost-effective than others. Economic evaluations of healthcare should be used as part of the decision-making process, so multifactorial therapeutic management strategies should be established based on the patients’ clinical characteristics and preferences as principal criteria.


Author(s):  
Liam Kelly ◽  
Michael Harrison ◽  
Noel Richardson ◽  
Paula Carroll ◽  
Tom Egan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Physical activity (PA) interventions capable of producing health benefits cost effectively are a public health priority across the Western world. ‘Men on the Move’ (MOM), a community-based PA intervention for men, demonstrated significant health benefits up to 52-weeks (W) post-baseline. This article details the economic evaluation of MOM with a view to determining its cost-effectiveness as a public health intervention to be rolled out nationally in Ireland. Methods Cost-effectiveness was determined by comparing the costs (direct and indirect) of the programme to its benefits, which were captured as the impact on quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). For the benefits, cost–utility analysis was conducted by retrospectively adapting various health-related measures of participants to generate health states using Brazier et al.’s (2002) short form-6D algorithm. This in turn allowed for ‘utility measures’ to be generated, from which QALYs were derived. Results Findings show MOM to be cost-effective in supporting an ‘at risk’ cohort of men achieves significant improvements in aerobic fitness, weight loss and waist reduction. The total cost per participant (€125.82 for each of the 501 intervention participants), the QALYs gained (11.98 post-12-W intervention, or 5.3% health improvement per participant) and estimated QALYs ratio costs of €3723 represents a cost-effective improvement when compared to known QALY guidelines. Conclusions The analysis shows that the cost per QALY achieved by MOM is significantly less than the existing benchmarks of £20 000 and €45 000 in the UK and Ireland respectively, demonstrating MOM to be cost-effective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alemayehu Hailu ◽  
Getachew Teshome Eregata ◽  
Amanuel Yigezu ◽  
Melanie Y. Bertram ◽  
Kjell Arne Johansson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cost-effectiveness of interventions was a criterion decided to guide priority setting in the latest revision of Ethiopia’s essential health services package (EHSP) in 2019. However, conducting an economic evaluation study for a broad set of health interventions simultaneously is challenging in terms of cost, timeliness, input data demanded, and analytic competency. Therefore, this study aimed to synthesize and contextualize cost-effectiveness evidence for the Ethiopian EHSP interventions from the literature. Methods The evidence synthesis was conducted in five key steps: search, screen, evaluate, extract, and contextualize. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE research databases for peer-reviewed published articles to identify average cost-effectiveness ratios (ACERs). Only studies reporting cost per disability-adjusted life year (DALY), quality-adjusted life year (QALY), or life years gained (LYG) were included. All the articles were evaluated using the Drummond checklist for quality, and those with a score of at least 7 out of 10 were included. Information on cost, effectiveness, and ACER was extracted. All the ACERs were converted into 2019 US dollars using appropriate exchange rates and the GDP deflator. Results In this study, we synthesized ACERs for 382 interventions from seven major program areas, ranging from US$3 per DALY averted (for the provision of hepatitis B vaccination at birth) to US$242,880 per DALY averted (for late-stage liver cancer treatment). Overall, 56% of the interventions have an ACER of less than US$1000 per DALY, and 80% of the interventions have an ACER of less than US$10,000 per DALY. Conclusion We conclude that it is possible to identify relevant economic evaluations using evidence from the literature, even if transferability remains a challenge. The present study identified several cost-effective candidate interventions that could, if scaled up, substantially reduce Ethiopia’s disease burden.


Author(s):  
Mrs Tejaswini ML ◽  
Ashwni H ◽  
Chandana N ◽  
Harshitha BR ◽  
Nagashree HN

A coronavirus have a great impact on a public health globally. Real time PCR s used for pathological testing but that result in false test result this impact made to exploration of alternate method for testing [1]. The detection of coronavirus 2 using chest X-ray image is anlifesaving property. By using chest X-ray coronavirus can identified are cost effective and its available on every public health sector rural clinic hospital. Deep learning –based chest radiograph classification (DL-CRC) frame are used to distinguish the COVID-19 cases and normal cases will high accuracy. The pre-trained image database used for large training sets to have pre- trained weights .The training data consisting covid chest X-ray image and normal chest X-ray image and fed into customized convolution neural network (CNN) model in DL-CRC wear masks in public areas is a major protection for people .The classification implies that it can efficiently detection COVID-19 from radiograph image for provide a reliable and fast response of COVID-19 infection in the lung.


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