An assessment of the characteristics and quality of diagnostic accuracy studies for positron emission tomography conducted in Japan: a systematic review.

Background: Systematic evaluations of the diagnostic accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging have been widely conducted in many countries. Although Japan's total number of PET units is the second highest in the world, very limited effort has been made to systematically assess the methodological quality of PET studies in Japan. We performed a systematic review to assess the characteristics and quality of PET diagnostic accuracy studies conducted in Japan and to analyze the factors related to their quality.

Effectiveness of nationwide screening program for neuroblastoma in Japan.

Background: Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the most malignant neoplasms in childhood. In Japan, while a nationwide screening program at six months of age was introduced in 1985, its efficacy has not been systematically evaluated before or after its introduction. The screening test was changed from a qualitative method to a quantitative method (i.

Are Japanese randomized controlled trials up to the task? A systematic review.

Objectives: Despite increasing numbers of RCTs done in Japan, existing international databases fail to capture them, and detailed information on the quality of Japanese RCTs is still missing. This study assessed the characteristics and quality of Japanese RCTs and analyzed factors related to their quality.

Methods: All RCTs conducted in Japan, and published as original articles that assessed the effect of healthcare interventions on humans in 2010, were included.

Cost-effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy for curatively resected gastric cancer with S-1.

Background: The effectiveness of specific regimens of adjuvant therapy for gastric cancer has not been verified by large clinical trials. Recently, several large trials attempted to verify the effectiveness of adjuvant therapy. The Adjuvant Chemotherapy Trial of TS-1 for Gastric Cancer in Japan, a randomized controlled trial of adjuvant S-1 therapy for resected gastric cancer, demonstrated significant improvement in overall and relapse-free survival, compared to surgery alone.

Development of the Japanese 15D instrument of health-related quality of life: verification of reliability and validity among elderly people.

Objective: The 15D is a self-administered questionnaire for assessment of health-related quality of life, which contains 15 questions with 5 response options each. This study was conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Japanese 15D.

Methods: The subjects were 430 community-dwelling elderly people.

The effectiveness and efficiency of disease management programs for patients with chronic diseases.

Objective: Disease management (DM) approach is increasingly advocated as a means of improving effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare for chronic diseases. To evaluate the evidence on effectiveness and efficiency of DM, evidence synthesis was carried out.

Methods: To locate eligible meta-analyses and systematic reviews, we searched Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, SCI-EXPANDED, SSCI, A&HCI, DARE, HTA and NHS EED from 1995 to 2010.

Cost-effectiveness of nutritional intervention on healing of pressure ulcers.

Background & Aims: Pressure ulcers not only affect quality of life among the elderly, but also bring a large economic burden. There is limited evidence available for the effectiveness of nutritional interventions for treatment of pressure ulcers. In Japan, recently, a 60-patient randomized controlled trial of nutritional intervention on pressure ulcers demonstrated improvement in healing of pressure ulcers, compared with conventional management.

History of healthcare technology assessment in Japan.

There has been a rapid growth of healthcare technology assessment (HTA) activities among health service researchers and physicians in Japan in the younger generation since the mid-1980s. HTA has become visible since the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) set up the several committees related to HTA in the late 1990s. The MHLW had to participate in regulatory and administrative reform, coping with the serious economic stagnation since 1991, following the economic recession in the 1980s.

Measuring quality of life in patients with breast cancer: a systematic review of reliable and valid instruments available in Japan.

Background: Little is known about the availability and psychometric properties of instruments to measure quality of life (QOL) in clinical research on Japanese patients with breast cancer. The purpose of this systematic review is to find reliable and valid instruments available in Japan, and to summarize their characteristics.

Methods: Instruments available in Japan were found through a systematic search of the literature.

Systematic overview of quality of life studies for breast cancer.

Background: The concept of quality of life (QOL) is essentially subjective, determined from the patient's point of view. Thus, an appropriate investigation and analysis of QOL as an indicator of medical treatment outcome is a task of some difficulty. The physician-led QOL assessment studies to date in Japan have suffered from insufficient knowledge and understanding of the diverse factors contributing to QOL, thereby contributing to a dearth of quality studies.

Estimating an EQ-5D population value set: the case of Japan.

Quality adjustment weights for quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are available with the EQ-5D Instrument, which are based on a survey that quantified the preferences of the British public. However, the extent to which this British value set is applicable to other, especially non-European, countries is yet unclear. The objectives of this study are (a) to compare the valuations obtained in Japan and Britain, and (b) to explore a local Japanese value set.