Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research
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Review
Measuring the quality of a childhood cancer care delivery system: quality indicator development.
A set of indicators to assess the quality of a childhood cancer system has not been identified in any jurisdiction internationally, despite the movement toward increased accountability and provision of high-quality care with limited health care resources. This study was conducted to develop a set of quality indicators (QIs) of a childhood cancer control and health care delivery system in Ontario, Canada. ⋯ The subset of 33 QIs developed on the basis of a systematic literature review and consensus provides the basis for the selection of a set of QIs for ongoing, standardized monitoring of various dimensions of quality in a childhood cancer system.
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To assess the cost-effectiveness of early primary total hip replacement (THR) for functionally independent older adult patients with osteoarthritis (OA) versus 1) nonsurgical therapy followed by THR once the patient has progressed to a functionally dependent state ("delayed THR") and 2) nonsurgical therapy alone ('medical therapy'), from the Italian National Health Service perspective. ⋯ THR is cost-effective. Patients' HRQOL benefits forgone with delayed THR are worth more than the costs it saves to the Italian National Health Service. This analysis might help to explain women's consistently lower HRQOL by the time of primary operation.
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To investigate the cost-effectiveness of nonpharmacological, nonsurgical interventions for the treatment of hip and/or knee osteoarthritis. ⋯ There is only limited evidence for the cost-effectiveness of conservative treatments for the management of hip and/or knee osteoarthritis. More high-quality economic evaluations of conservative interventions are needed to further inform practice.
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To investigate the cost-effectiveness of nonpharmacological, nonsurgical interventions for the treatment of hip and/or knee osteoarthritis. ⋯ There is only limited evidence for the cost-effectiveness of conservative treatments for the management of hip and/or knee osteoarthritis. More high-quality economic evaluations of conservative interventions are needed to further inform practice.
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Generic health status measures such as the short form health survey (SF-36) and EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) are increasingly being used to inform health policy. They are claimed to be applicable across disease areas and have started to be used within mental health research. This review aims to assess the construct validity and responsiveness of four generic health status measures in schizophrenia, including the preference-based SF-6D and EQ-5D. ⋯ Although the evidence base is limited in a number of important respects, including problems with the measures used to develop constructs in the validation studies, it is sufficient to raise doubts about the use of generic measures of health like the EQ-5D and SF-36 in patients with schizophrenia.