Evaluation of the Quality of Life of Patients with Myasthenia Gravis in Greece.

Myasthenia Gravis (MG) patients often report an affected quality of life (QoL). The aim of the current study was to evaluate the QoL of patients with MG in Greece using a specific tool. A cross-sectional online survey was performed.

The impact of accessibility and service quality on the frequency of patient visits to the primary diabetes care provider: results from a cross-sectional survey performed in six European countries.

Background: Visits to the primary diabetes care provider play a central role in diabetes care. Therefore, patients should attend their primary diabetes care providers whenever a visit is necessary. Parameters that might affect whether this condition is fulfilled include accessibility (in terms of travel distance and travel time to the practice), as well as aspects of service quality (for example in-practice waiting time and quality of the provider's communication with the patient).

Correction: The relationship between context, structure, and processes with outcomes of 6 regional diabetes networks in Europe.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Development of a universal short patient satisfaction questionnaire on the basis of SERVQUAL: Psychometric analyses with data of diabetes and stroke patients from six different European countries.

Objective: A short questionnaire which can be applied for assessing patient satisfaction in different contexts and different countries is to be developed.

Methods: Six items addressing tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and communication were analysed. The first five items stem from SERVQUAL (SERVice QUALity), the last stems from the discussion about SERVQUAL.

Do Caregiver Characteristics Affect Caregiver Burden Differently in Different Countries?

The relationships between caregiver burden as measured with the Burden Scale for Family Caregivers-short form and 6 characteristics of caregivers caring for patients with dementia were investigated for caregivers from England (n = 36), Finland (n = 42), and Greece (n = 46) using survey data. In all 3 countries, caregiver burden increases with physical problems of the caregiver, emotional problems of the caregiver, and weekly hours of care. Hence, in all 3 countries, special support for informal care is required when these characteristics are at high levels.

Vaccination against HPV virus: a systematic review of economic evaluation studies for developed countries.

Introduction: During the last years, a significant number economic evaluations of HPV vaccination has been published. Given that cost-effectiveness constitutes an essential part of decision-making with regards to the reimbursement of a health technology, the purpose of this study is to provide a supportive tool to decision-makers regarding the economic efficiency of the introduction of HPV vaccination to national immunization programs.

Areas Covered: The PubMed database was searched in order to identify cost-effectiveness studies for HPV vaccination.

Comparing Use of Health Technology Assessment in Pharmaceutical Policy among Earlier and More Recent Adopters in the European Union.

Objectives: To examine and compare the use of health technology assessment (HTA) for the reimbursement of new medicines in selected European Union member states with decades of experience in the use of HTA and in countries that have used it regularly since 2000.

Methods: The selected countries were categorized into "earlier" adopters (group A: England, Germany, France, and Sweden) and more "recent" adopters (group B: Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania). A systematic review of published literature was performed.

The relationship between context, structure, and processes with outcomes of 6 regional diabetes networks in Europe.

Background: While health service provisioning for the chronic condition Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) often involves a network of organisations and professionals, most evidence on the relationships between the structures and processes of service provisioning and the outcomes considers single organisations or solo practitioners. Extending Donabedian's Structure-Process-Outcome (SPO) model, we investigate how differences in quality of life, effective coverage of diabetes, and service satisfaction are associated with differences in the structures, processes, and context of T2D services in six regions in Finland, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, and UK.

Methods: Data collection consisted of: a) systematic modelling of provider network's structures and processes, and b) a cross-sectional survey of patient reported outcomes and other information.

The impact of travel distance, travel time and waiting time on health-related quality of life of diabetes patients: An investigation in six European countries.

Aims: The effects of travel distance and travel time to the primary diabetes care provider and waiting time in the practice on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with type 2 diabetes are investigated.

Research Design And Methods: Survey data of 1313 persons with type 2 diabetes from six regions in England (274), Finland (163), Germany (254), Greece (165), the Netherlands (354), and Spain (103) were analyzed. Various multiple linear regression analyses with four different EQ-5D-3L indices (English, German, Dutch and Spanish index) as target variables, with travel distance, travel time, and waiting time in the practice as focal predictors and with control for study region, patient's gender, patient's age, patient's education, time since diagnosis, thoroughness of provider-patient communication were computed.

Cost Effectiveness of Apixaban versus Warfarin or Aspirin for Stroke Prevention in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: A Greek Perspective.

Background: Strokes attributed to atrial fibrillation (AF) represent a major cause of adult disability and a great burden to society and healthcare systems.

Objectives: Our objective was to assess the cost effectiveness of apixaban, a direct acting oral anticoagulant (DOAC), versus warfarin or aspirin for patients with AF in the Greek healthcare setting.

Methods: We used a previously published Markov model to simulate clinical events for patients with AF treated with apixaban, the vitamin K antagonist (VKA) warfarin, or aspirin.

Cost-effectiveness of eplerenone in NYHA class II chronic heart failure patients with reduced LVEF: an analysis for Greece.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness (CE) of treatment with eplerenone versus standard care in adult patients with New York Heart Association class II chronic heart failure and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction from the perspective of the Greek national health care payer.

Methods: A discrete-event model simulating the clinical course and respective outcomes of eplerenone as an add-on to standard therapy versus standard therapy alone based on the pivotal Eplerenone in Mild Patients Hospitalization and SurvIval Study in Heart Failure (EMPHASIS-HF) trial was locally adapted for the Greek setting. Data on medications followed the resource use from eplerenone in mild patients hospitalization and survival study in heart failure and were estimated on a lifetime basis (or until discontinuation).

Investigating burden of informal caregivers in England, Finland and Greece: an analysis with the short form of the Burden Scale for Family Caregivers (BSFC-s).

Objectives: The burden of informal caregivers might show itself in different ways in different cultures. Understanding these differences is important for developing culture-specific measures aimed at alleviating caregiver burden. Hitherto, no findings regarding such cultural differences between different European countries were available.

Clinical and financial burden of active lupus in Greece: a nationwide study.

Analyses of the medical and economic burden of chronic disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are valuable for clinical and health policy decisions. We performed a chart-based review of 215 adult SLE patients with active autoantibody-positive disease at the predefined ratio of 30% severe (involvement of major organs requiring treatment) and 70% non-severe, followed at seven hospital centres in Greece. We reviewed 318 patients consecutively registered over three months (sub-study).

Cost-effectiveness of apixaban vs. other new oral anticoagulants for the prevention of stroke: an analysis on patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation in the Greek healthcare setting.

Background And Objectives: Three new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are currently approved for stroke prevention and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The objective of this analysis was to assess the cost effectiveness of apixaban against other NOACs for the prevention of stroke in patients with NVAF in Greece.

Methods: A Markov model that evaluated clinical events, quality-adjusted life expectancy, and costs for patients treated with apixaban or other NOACs formed the basis of the analysis.

Pharmaceutical innovation: impact on expenditure and outcomes and subsequent challenges for pharmaceutical policy, with a special reference to Greece.

Over the recent decades, advances in healthcare technology have led to significant improvements in the quality of healthcare and in population health. At the same time, technological change in healthcare, rising national income and expansion of insurance coverage have been acknowledged as the main determinants of the historical growth in health spending in industrialized countries. The pharmaceutical sector is of particular interest as it constitutes a market characterized by rapid technological change and high expenditure growth rates.

Antibacterial Treatment of Meticillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Complicated Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: a Cost and Budget Impact Analysis in Greek Hospitals.

Introduction: Meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important cause of antimicrobial-resistant infections worldwide. Its prevalence remains high in the Greek hospital setting. Complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs) due to MRSA are associated with prolonged hospitalization, additional healthcare costs and significant morbidity.

Health technology assessment of medicines in Greece: pharmaceutical industry executives' views.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate originator pharmaceutical companies' practices in relation to health technology assessment (HTA) and the views and perceptions of their executives on the importance of HTA in pricing and reimbursement of medicines in Greece.

Methods: A qualitative study was performed, using individual semi-structured interviews based on an interview schedule with open-ended questions. The target population was market access departments' executives of originator pharmaceutical companies.

Pregabalin versus gabapentin in the management of peripheral neuropathic pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia and diabetic neuropathy: a cost effectiveness analysis for the Greek healthcare setting.

Background: The anticonvulsants pregabalin and gabapentin are both indicated for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain. The decision on which treatment provides the best alternative, should take into account all aspects of costs and outcomes associated with the two therapeutic options. The objective of this study was to examine the cost - effectiveness of the two agents in the management of patients with painful diabetic neuropathy or post - herpetic neuralgia, under the third party payer perspective in Greece.

Cost-effectiveness of varenicline versus bupropion, nicotine-replacement therapy, and unaided cessation in Greece.

Background: Varenicline was designed to relieve symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, including cigarette craving, and to block the reinforcing effects of continued nicotine use. The cost-effectiveness of varenicline in some countries has not been studied.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of varenicline to that of bupropion, nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT), and unaided cessation in the Greek health care setting.