Schema therapy in adults with autism spectrum disorder: A scoping review.

Background: Schema therapy (ST) in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have gained increasing interest in clinical practice and research. However, to date, there has been no synthesis of the literature on ST as treatment for adults with ASD. Through a scoping review, we aim to summarize the emerging research and literature on ST for adults with ASD.

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Video Gaming-Based Social Skills Program for Children on the Autism Spectrum.

Families often face financial and geographical barriers to services for children with autism. The current study explored the effectiveness of a parent-supported adaptation of the computer game-based social skills program Secret Agent Society (SAS). Seventy child-parent dyads were randomized to SAS (n = 35) or a caregiver-supported cognitive skills training game (CIA-control comparison; n = 35), both completed over 10 weeks.

Health system characteristics of quality care delivery: a comparative case study examination of palliative care for cancer patients in four regions in Ontario, Canada.

Background: A number of palliative care delivery models have been proposed to address the structural and process gaps in this care. However, the specific elements required to form competent systems are often vaguely described.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore whether a set of modifiable health system factors could be identified that are associated with population palliative care outcomes, including less acute care use and more home deaths.

Resource use and costs of end-of-Life/palliative care: Ontario adult cancer patients dying during 2002 and 2003.

The objective of this study is to estimate the direct medical cost of end-of-life and palliative (EOL/PAL) care for cancer patients during the last six months of their lives--or, during the period from diagnosis to death, if briefer--in 2002 and 2003, in Ontario, Canada. A linkage of cancer registry and administrative data is used to determine the costs of health care resources used during the EOL/PAL care period. Costs are analyzed by cancer diagnosis, location of death, and type of service.

Factors Associated with End-of-Life Health Service Use in Patients Dying of Cancer.

This study describes acute care hospital death, physician house calls and home care near the end of life among patients who died of cancer and the factors that are associated with these events and services. It is a population-based retrospective study that uses linked administrative healthcare data. The cohort includes all patients who died of cancer between 2000 and 2004 in Ontario, Canada.

To stimulate or withdraw? A cost-utility analysis of recombinant human thyrotropin versus thyroxine withdrawal for radioiodine ablation in patients with low-risk differentiated thyroid cancer in the United States.

Context: Use of recombinant human TSH (rhTSH) prior to radioactive iodine remnant ablation for patients with differentiated thyroid cancer avoids the hypothyroid state and improves quality of life. European studies have shown that use of rhTSH vs. thyroid hormone withdrawal is a cost-effective method for preparing patients for ablation.

Increasing detection and increasing incidence in thyroid cancer.

Background: It has been proposed that the increasing incidence of thyroid cancer is due to increasing detection.

Methods: Using administrative data, we compare by year from 1993 to 2006, the rates of diagnostic imaging tests of the neck (computed axial tomography--CT, magnetic resonance imaging--MRI, and non-obstetrical ultrasound--US) to the incidence of thyroid cancer for the population of the Province of Ontario Canada.

Results: Women and men have different rates of tests, and those rates reflect the rates of new diagnoses of thyroid cancer.

Calcitonin measurement in the evaluation of thyroid nodules in the United States: a cost-effectiveness and decision analysis.

Context: European studies have shown that the use of routine calcitonin screening for detection of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) in patients with thyroid nodules increases the detection of occult MTC and may improve patient outcomes. Calcitonin screening for MTC has not been recommended in recent U.S.

Estimating the benefit and cost of radiotherapy for lung cancer.

Purpose: To estimate the benefit and cost of using radiotherapy (RT) in the initial management of lung cancer in the general population.

Methods: We identified indications for RT in the initial management of small cell and non-small cell lung cancer through a review of the literature. The proportion of patients with each specific indication for treatment was determined using epidemiological observations from cancer registry data and from the literature.

Which cancer clinical trials should be considered for economic evaluation? Selection criteria from the National Cancer Institute of Canada's Working Group on Economic Analysis.

Rising health care costs, expensive new health care technologies and increasing patient expectations are placing huge pressures on the publicly funded health care system in Canada. As a result, policy makers need information on the cost and cost-effectiveness of new therapies in addition to their clinical benefits. In response to this need, the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group (NCIC CTG) established a Working Group on Economic Analysis (WGEA) to provide advice on the economic evaluation of new cancer therapies.

Lifetime costs of colon and rectal cancer management in Canada.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality among Canadians. We derived the direct health care costs associated with the lifetime management of an estimated 16,856 patients with a diagnosis of colon and rectal cancer in Canada in 2000. Information on diagnostic approaches, treatment algorithms, follow-up and care at disease progression was obtained from various databases and was integrated into Statistics Canada's Population Health Model (POHEM) to estimate lifetime costs.

Screening for diabetic retinopathy in James Bay, Ontario: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Background: Retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus that if detected early by regular retinal examinations can be treated; thus, blindness can be delayed or prevented. Providing high-quality retinal screening is difficult, especially in rural and remote areas. Canada's First Nations population has a higher prevalence of diabetes and is, in general, more geographically isolated than the broader Canadian population.

An evidence-based estimate of appropriate radiotherapy utilization rate for breast cancer.

Purpose: Current estimates of the proportion of cancer patients who will require radiotherapy (RT) are based almost entirely on expert opinion. We sought to use an evidence-based approach to estimate the proportion of incident cases of breast cancer that will require RT at any point in the evolution of the illness.

Methods And Materials: We undertook a systematic review of the literature to identify indications for RT for breast cancer and to ascertain the level of evidence that supported each indication.

Factors affecting workload of cancer clinical trials: results of a multicenter study of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group.

Purpose: Increasingly, cancer treatment centers need to be able to estimate specific costs and resources associated with clinical trials. Because the time requirements of trial coordination and data collection are not well known, the Clinical Research Associates (CRA) Committee of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group carried out a multicenter study to measure trials' task times and evaluate the effects of certain factors.

Methods: A data collection instrument was designed and validated before its implementation in the study.