A cost-effectiveness decision model for antiepileptic drug treatment in newly diagnosed epilepsy patients.

Objective: To establish cost-effectiveness of antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment strategies of newly diagnosed patients with epilepsy.

Methods: A decision analysis was carried out comparing effectiveness and treatment cost of six treatment strategies comprising carbamazepine (CBZ), lamotrigine (LTG), and valproate (VPA) as first-line and second-line drugs. Three outcome groups were defined: complete success, partial success, and failure.

Pre-assessment to assess the match between cost-effectiveness results and decision makers' information needs: an illustration using two cases in rehabilitation medicine in The Netherlands.

Objective: To determine if a pre-assessment can be used to establish whether cost-effectiveness results would meet the actual information needs of Dutch healthcare decision makers.

Methods: Two recent studies in rehabilitation medicine served as study material. Based on Wholey, a limited pre-assessment was performed in which the potential impact of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) results on intended users' decision making was assessed.