JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Editorial Comment
Early detection of undiagnosed non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
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To develop consensus-based recommendations guiding the conduct of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) to improve the comparability and quality of studies. The recommendations apply to analyses intended to inform the allocation of health care resources across a broad range of conditions and interventions. This article, first in a 3-part series, discusses how this goal affects the conduct and use of analyses. The remaining articles will outline methodological and reporting recommendations, respectively. ⋯ The panel's recommendations define a "reference case" cost-effectiveness analysis, a standard set of methods to serve as a point of comparison across studies. The reference case analysis is conducted from the societal perspective and accounts for benefits, harms, and costs to all parties. Although CEA does not reflect every element of importance in health care decisions, the information it provides is critical to informing decisions about the allocation of health care resources.
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To examine the association between cigarette smoking and the incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in men. ⋯ These prospective data provide support for the hypothesis that cigarette smoking increases the risk of developing AMD.
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To evaluate the relationship between cigarette smoking and incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among women. ⋯ Cigarette smoking is an independent and avoidable risk factor for AMD among women. Because AMD is the most common cause of severe visual impairment among the elderly and treatment is not available or is ineffective for most patients, reducing the risk of this disease is another important reason to avoid smoking.