Mapping of disease-specific Oxford Knee Score onto EQ-5D-5L utility index in knee osteoarthritis.

Background: EQ5D is a generic measure of health. It provides a single index value for health status that can be used in the clinical and economic evaluation of healthcare. Oxford Knee Score (OKS) is a joint-specific outcome measure tool designed to assess symptoms and function in osteoarthritis patients after joint replacement surgery.

Vaccine wastage and cost saving after multi-dose vial policy implementation in Egypt: A success story.

Background: Prevention of disease through vaccination is one of the greatest public health successes. The Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) previous policy stated that all vaccines had opened for immunization session had to be discarded at the end of the session, regardless to the type of the vaccine or the number of doses remaining in the vial. To bring wastage rate down, the WHO multi-dose vial policy (MDVP) was introduced.

Evaluation of the costing methodology of published studies estimating costs of surgical site infections: A systematic review.

Objectives: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are associated with increased length of hospitalization and costs. Epidemiologists and infection control practitioners, who are in charge of implementing infection control measures, have to assess the quality and relevance of the published SSI cost estimates before using them to support their decisions. In this review, we aimed to determine the distribution and trend of analytical methodologies used to estimate cost of SSIs, to evaluate the quality of costing methods and the transparency of cost estimates, and to assess whether researchers were more inclined to use transferable studies.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of three methods of surgical-site infection surveillance: Less is more.

Background: A considerable proportion of surgical site infections (SSI) could be prevented by surveillance. The study aimed to compare the cost-effectiveness of 3 methods of SSI surveillance: Inpatient, phone, and out-patient clinic (OPC); to ensure that the risk of SSI is independent from loss-to-follow-up in phone and OPC surveillances, and to determine the reliability of phone surveillance.

Methods: A cohort of 351 surgical patients were followed by 3 different surveillance methods: inpatient, follow-up in OPC and over the phone.

Current treatment modalities of breast-cancer patients in Alexandria, Egypt.

Despite great advances in the treatment of breast cancer during recent years, many breast cancer patients still do not receive appropriate treatment. Data were collected during a 1-year period from nine general hospitals aiming at evaluating the quality of care delivered to breast cancer patients in Alexandria, Egypt. A total of 565 breast cancer patients were involved.