Knowledge, Perceptions and Attitudes Toward HPV Vaccination: A Survey on Parents of Girls Aged 11-18 Years Old in Greece.

Objective: To investigate knowledge, perceptions and practices of parents of girls aged 11-18 years old in Greece toward HPV vaccination, and determine which factors are associated with parents' decision to vaccinate their daughters.

Methods: A close-end questionnaire was constructed and telephone interviews were conducted upon informed consent. The sample was random, national, stratified by geographic region and representative of the general population of parents of girls aged 11-18.

A 10-year economic analysis of HIV management in Greece: evidence of efficient resource allocation.

Objective: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence has substantially increased over the years, leading to increased direct medical costs. The aim of the present study was to assess the long-term cost of HIV care in Greece incurred over the last decade.

Methods: In order to assess the long-term cost of HIV care, a cost analysis was undertaken for three discrete time points (which reflect major changes in the HIV treatment paradigm), incorporating the evolution of the cost of pharmaceuticals, hospitalization, primary care visits and diagnostic tests.

Self-medication in Greece: the financial impact from expanding the OTC market.

Objectives: To assess the financial impact of self-medication enhancement through a potential expansion of the over-the-counter (OTC) drug list in Greece.

Methods: An analysis consisting of two scenarios was conducted. The first scenario estimated the financial effects of hypothetically switching 5% of the volume of the total sales of reimbursed drugs in Greece to OTC, while the second scenario estimated the effects of switching to OTC the total sales volume of a set of active substances (which are currently reimbursed), facilitated by a consensus panel meeting.

Individuals' personal characteristics associated with private health insurance policy possession in Greece.

Background: Possession of private health insurance has been associated with personal and socioeconomic characteristics, such as income and age. The objective of the present study is to assess the individuals' personal characteristics associated with private health insurance possession in Greece.

Methods: The data used in the present analysis derived from the 'Health and Welfare' survey conducted by the Hellenic National School of Public Health in Greece and refer to year 2017.

Two Sides of the Same Coin? A Dual Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis of Novel Treatments Against Rheumatoid Arthritis in Physicians and Patients.

Purpose: Available treatment options for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) differ in important aspects. In this sense, each RA treatment option is accompanied by a spectrum of characteristics that collectively constitute its comprehensive "value," as viewed from the physician's or the patient's perspective. The objective of this study was to perform a multiple criteria decision analysis of different RA treatments from the perspective of physicians and patients and to outline the respective aspects of value for each treatment METHODS: A literature review was performed for constructing a set of criteria (N = 8) for the multiple criteria decision analysis.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Single versus Repeated Use of Single-Use Devices in Cataract Surgery.

Purpose: To estimate the net cost effect associated with the real-world practice of repeated use of designated single-use medical devices (SUDs) versus their proper single use in cataract surgery in Greece.

Design: A cost-benefit analysis model was constructed in the form of a decision tree.

Methods: A digital expert panel was assembled in order to estimate the probabilities of intraoperative and postoperative complications associated with single and repeated use of SUDs.

Can We Incorporate Societal Values in Resource Allocation Decisions Among Disease Categories? An Empirical Approach.

Objectives: Historically, resource allocation decisions in healthcare are based on univariate approaches, inevitably overlooking value dimensions that are essential from a societal welfare maximization perspective. This article aims to present a wider perspective on decision making that incorporates societal values when prioritizing future resource allocation among disease areas.

Methods: Sociotechnical application of multiple-criteria decision analysis with a set of criteria (value judgments) that are based on positive as well as normative dimensions of resource allocation.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Utilization of Health Services and Out-Of-Pocket Health Expenditures in Greece.

Objectives: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a severe progressive disease with poor prognosis. Patients show an increased healthcare utilization pattern consisting of regular physician consultations and monitoring tests. The aim of the present study was to estimate healthcare resource utilization and out-of-pocket expenditures for IPF patients in Greece.

Community acquired pneumonia: a cost-of-illness analysis in Greece.

Introduction: Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an acute respiratory infection with high clinical and economic burden, especially when hospitalisation is required. The present study aimed to assess the mean direct cost per CAP outpatient and inpatient care in Greece, in the absence of previous estimates.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients at a tertiary hospital, treated between October 2015 and March 2016, was conducted.

Economic evaluation of HPV DNA test as primary screening method for cervical cancer: A health policy discussion in Greece.

Background: HPV test appears to be more effective in cervical cancer (CC) screening. However, the decision of its adoption as a primary screening method by substituting the established cytology lies in the evaluation of multiple criteria. Aim of this study is to evaluate the economic and clinical impact of HPV test as primary screening method for CC.

Management of diabetes mellitus and patients' attitude towards the disease: Data from a nationwide study in Greece.

Aim: To examine management of diabetes mellitus (DM) and patients' attitude towards DM in a random sample of the adult Greek population.

Methods: s: We selected a random sample of adults with self-reported DM (n = 1002) from a population-based nationwide study using the effective random sampling technique. Collection of data was performed through phone interviews.

Are happy people healthier? An instrumental variable approach using data from Greece.

Background: From a theoretical perspective, several studies indicate that happiness and health are-in some extent-interrelated. Despite the mechanisms explaining the relationship between happiness and health, there is still no consensus regarding this link. Using recently collected primary data, this study aims to examine the relationship between happiness and health, and identify potential heterogeneity in the association depending on socioeconomic status (SES).

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus as well as cardiac and other main comorbidities in a representative sample of the adult Greek population in comparison with the general population.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common metabolic disorder that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by two to four times compared with the general population. There are limited data on the prevalence of heart diseases in subjects with DM in Greece. In this study, we examined the prevalence of self-reported DM as well as cardiac and other main comorbidities in a representative sample of the adult Greek population.

Cost-effectiveness of Ingenol Mebutate Gel for the Treatment of Actinic Keratosis in Greece.

Purpose: The present study aimed to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of ingenol mebutate (IM) versus other topical alternatives for the treatment of actinic keratosis (AK).

Methods: The analysis used a decision tree to calculate the clinical effects and costs of AK first-line treatments, IM (2-3 days), diclofenac 3% (for 8 or 12 weeks), imiquimod 5% (for 4 or 8 weeks), during a 24-month horizon, using discrete intervals of 6 months. A hypothetical cohort of immunocompetent adult patients with clinically confirmed AK on the face and scalp or trunk and extremities was considered.

Subjective social status, social network and health disparities: empirical evidence from Greece.

Background: Several studies suggest that socioeconomic status affects (SES) affects self-rated health (SRH), both in Greece and internationally. However, prior research mainly uses objective measures of SES, instead of subjective evaluations of individuals' social status. Based on this, this paper aims to examine (a) the impact of the economic dowturn on SRH in Greece and (b) the relationship between subjective social status (SSS), social network and SRH.

Why do generic drugs fail to achieve an adequate market share in Greece? Empirical findings and policy suggestions.

Objectives: Since 2010, the memoranda of understanding were implemented in Greece as a measure of fiscal adjustment. Public pharmaceutical expenditure was one of the main focuses of this implementation. Numerous policies, targeted on pharma spending, reduced the pharmaceutical budget by 60.

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).

Measuring the efficiency of the Greek rural primary health care using a restricted DEA model; the case of southern and western Greece.

This is a study to measure the efficiency of the rural Health Centres (HCs) and their Regional Surgeries (RSs) of the 6th Health Prefecture (HP) of Greece, which covers Southern and Western Greece. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was applied under Constant and Variable Returns to Scale, using a weight-restricted, output-oriented model, to calculate pure technical efficiency (PΤΕ), scale efficiency (SE) and total technical efficiency (TE). The selection of inputs, outputs and their relative weights in the model was based on two consecutive consensus panels of experts on Primary Health Care (PHC).

Treatment with the first TNF inhibitor in rheumatoid arthritis patients in the Hellenic Registry of Biologic Therapies improves quality of life especially in young patients with better baseline functional status.

Objectives: To assess in daily practice in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) the effect of treatment with first tumour necrosis factor-α inhibitor (TNFi) in quality of life (Qol), disease activity and depict possible baseline predictors for gains in Qol.

Methods: Patients followed prospectively by the Hellenic Registry of Biologic Therapies were analysed. Demographics were recorded at baseline, while RA-related characteristics at baseline and every 6 months.

Economic crisis, austerity and unmet healthcare needs: the case of Greece.

Background: The programme for fiscal consolidation in Greece has led to income decrease and several changes in health policy. In this context, this study aims to assess how economic crisis affected unmet healthcare needs in Greece.

Methods: Time series analysis was performed for the years 2004 through 2011 using the EU-SILC database.

A cohort of children with type 1 diabetes in Greece: predictors of direct costs of care.

Aim: To examine the predictors of direct costs of pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) in a hospital-based outpatient clinic in Greece.

Methods: The outpatient records of 89 children and adolescents (mean age: 12.05 ± 5.

Factors associated with the utilization of mammographic screening in Greece.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in women and the primary cause of death by cancer in women globally. Early diagnosis and treatment can be achieved through screening, mainly mammographic; however, international experience has shown that women do not attend mammographic screening adequately. The aim of the present study was to investigate and assess the factors that affect demand for mammography by women to improve and enhance the use of mammography by women in Greece, especially those in the 50-70 age group.

How peptide technology has improved costs and outcomes in patients with heart failure.

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is characterized by substantial health and economic burden, mainly attributed to increased hospitalizations and readmissions. Its diagnosis remains challenging due to the non-specific nature of the initial symptoms of the disease. Recently, scientific evidence has highlighted the potential of natriuretic peptides (NP) in improving the diagnosis and prognosis of HF and, by extension, in restraining healthcare costs.