The Association Between Physical Distancing Behaviors to Avoid COVID-19 and Health-Related Quality of Life in Immunocompromised and Nonimmunocompromised Individuals: Patient-Informed Protocol for the Observational, Cross-Sectional EAGLE Study.

Background: Immunocompromised individuals are known to respond inadequately to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, placing them at high risk of severe or fatal COVID-19. Thus, immunocompromised individuals and their caregivers may still practice varying degrees of social or physical distancing to avoid COVID-19. However, the association between physical distancing to avoid COVID-19 and quality of life has not been comprehensively evaluated in any study.

A transcriptomic based deconvolution framework for assessing differentiation stages and drug responses of AML.

The diagnostic spectrum for AML patients is increasingly based on genetic abnormalities due to their prognostic and predictive value. However, information on the AML blast phenotype regarding their maturational arrest has started to regain importance due to its predictive power for drug responses. Here, we deconvolute 1350 bulk RNA-seq samples from five independent AML cohorts on a single-cell healthy BM reference and demonstrate that the morphological differentiation stages (FAB) could be faithfully reconstituted using estimated cell compositions (ECCs).

Mapping AML heterogeneity - multi-cohort transcriptomic analysis identifies novel clusters and divergent ex-vivo drug responses.

Subtyping of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is predominantly based on recurrent genetic abnormalities, but recent literature indicates that transcriptomic phenotyping holds immense potential to further refine AML classification. Here we integrated five AML transcriptomic datasets with corresponding genetic information to provide an overview (n = 1224) of the transcriptomic AML landscape. Consensus clustering identified 17 robust patient clusters which improved identification of CEBPA-mutated patients with favourable outcomes, and uncovered transcriptomic subtypes for KMT2A rearrangements (2), NPM1 mutations (5), and AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) (5).

Rule of Prevention: a potential framework to evaluate preventive interventions for rare diseases.

The benefits of preventive interventions lack comprehensive evaluation in standard health technology assessments (HTA), particularly for rare and transmissible diseases. To identify possible considerations for future HTA using analogies between the treatment and prevention of rare diseases. An Expert panel meeting assessed whether one HTA assessment framework can be applied to assess both rare disease treatments and preventive interventions.

EULAR Points to Consider (PtC) for designing, analysing and reporting of studies with work participation as an outcome domain in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Background: Clinical studies with work participation (WP) as an outcome domain pose particular methodological challenges that hamper interpretation, comparison between studies and meta-analyses.

Objectives: To develop Points to Consider (PtC) for design, analysis and reporting of studies of patients with inflammatory arthritis that include WP as a primary or secondary outcome domain.

Methods: The EULAR Standardised Operating Procedures were followed.

Cost-effectiveness of Mechanical Thrombectomy More Than 6 Hours After Symptom Onset Among Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Importance: Two 2018 randomized controlled trials (DAWN and DEFUSE 3) demonstrated the clinical benefit of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) more than 6 hours after onset in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Health-economic evidence is needed to determine whether the short-term health benefits of late MT translate to a cost-effective option during a lifetime in the United States.

Objective: To compare the cost-effectiveness of 2 strategies (MT added to standard medical care [SMC] vs SMC alone) for various subgroups of patients with AIS receiving care more than 6 hours after symptom onset.

Impact of hospitalisation on health-related quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Empirical identification of the direct impact of hospitalisation in the change in utility could provide an interpretation for some of the unexplained variance in quality of life responses in clinical practice and clinical trials and provide assistance to researchers in assessing the impact of a hospitalisation in the context of economic evaluations. This study had the goal of determining the impact of nonfatal hospitalisations on the quality of life of a cohort of patients previously diagnosed with heart failure by using their quality of life measurements before and after hospitalisation.

Methods: The impact of hospitalisation on health-related quality of life was estimated by calculating the difference in utility measured using the EQ-5D-3L in patients that were hospitalised and had records of utility before and after hospitalisation.

Systematic reviews as a "lens of evidence": Determinants of participation in breast cancer screening.

Objective: To assess the determinants of the participation rate in breast cancer screening programs by conducting a systematic review of reviews.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search in PubMed via Medline, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane identifying the literature up to April 2019. Out of 2258 revealed unique abstracts, we included 31 reviews, from which 25 were considered as systematic.

European survey on acute coronary syndrome diagnosis and revascularisation treatment: Assessing differences in reported clinical practice with a focus on strategies for specific patient cases.

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: While different imaging and treatment options are available in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) care, there is a lack of data regarding their use across Europe. We examined the diagnostic and treatment strategies in patients with known or suspected ACS as reported by physicians and identified variations in responses across European countries and geographical areas.

Method: A web-based clinician survey focusing on ACS imaging and revascularization treatments was circulated through email distribution lists and websites of European professional societies in the field of cardiology.

Adverse events associated with bone-conduction and middle-ear implants: a systematic review.

Purpose: To review types and frequencies of adverse events (AE) associated with bone-conduction hearing implants (BCHIs) and active middle-ear implants (aMEIs) as reported in the literature.

Methods: Cochrane, PubMed, and EMBASE libraries were searched for primary articles in English or German language that reported on adverse events following BCHI or aMEI implantation, included at least five patients and were published between 1996 and 2016. Study characteristics, demographics, and counts of adverse events were tabulated and analyzed within the R statistical programming environment.

TECH-VER: A Verification Checklist to Reduce Errors in Models and Improve Their Credibility.

Background: In health economic literature, checklists or best practice recommendations on model validation/credibility always declare verification of the programmed model as a fundamental step, such as 'is the model implemented correctly and does the implementation accurately represent the conceptual model?' However, to date, little operational guidance for the model verification process has been given. In this study, we aimed to create an operational checklist for model users or reviewers to verify the technical implementation of health economic decision analytical models and document their verification efforts.

Methods: Literature on model validation, verification, programming errors and credibility was reviewed systematically from scientific databases.

Exploring the Cost-Effectiveness of Mechanical Thrombectomy Beyond 6 Hours Following Advanced Imaging in the United Kingdom.

Background and Purpose- In the United Kingdom, mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for acute ischemic stroke patients assessed beyond 6 hours from symptom onset will be commissioned up to 12 hours provided that advanced imaging (AdvImg) demonstrates salvageable brain tissue. While the accuracy of AdvImg differs across technologies, evidence is limited regarding the proportion of patients who would benefit from late MT. We compared the cost-effectiveness of 2 care pathways: (1) MT within and beyond 6 hours based on AdvImg selection versus (2) MT only within 6 hours based on conventional imaging selection.

Systematic reviews as a "lens of evidence": Determinants of cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening.

Systematic reviews with economic components are important decision tools for stakeholders seeking to evaluate technologies, such as breast cancer screening (BCS) programs. This overview of systematic reviews explores the determinants of the cost-effectiveness of BCS and assesses the quality of secondary evidence. The search identified 30 systematic reviews that reported on the determinants of the cost-effectiveness of BCS, including the costs of breast cancer and BCS.

Disutility associated with cancer screening programs: A systematic review.

Objectives: Disutility allows to identify how much population values intervention-related harms contributing to knowledge on the benefits/harms ratio of cancer screening programs. This systematic review evaluates disutility related to cancer screening applying a utility theory framework.

Methods: Using a predefined protocol, Embase, Medline Ovid, Web of Science, Cochrane, Google scholar and supplementary sources were systematically searched.

Value of information analysis in telehealth for chronic heart failure management.

Objectives: Value of information (VOI) analysis provides information on opportunity cost of a decision in healthcare by estimating the cost of reducing parametric uncertainty and quantifying the value of generating additional evidence. This study is an application of the VOI methodology to the problem of choosing between home telemonitoring and nurse telephone support over usual care in chronic heart failure management in the Netherlands.

Methods: The expected value of perfect information (EVPI) and the expected value of partially perfect information (EVPPI) analyses were based on an informal threshold of €20K per quality-adjusted life-year.

A Test-and-Not-Treat Strategy for Onchocerciasis Elimination in Loa loa-coendemic Areas: Cost Analysis of a Pilot in the Soa Health District, Cameroon.

Background: Severe adverse events after treatment with ivermectin in individuals with high levels of Loa loa microfilariae in the blood preclude onchocerciasis elimination through community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) in Central Africa. We measured the cost of a community-based pilot using a test-and-not-treat (TaNT) strategy in the Soa health district in Cameroon.

Methods: Based on actual expenditures, we empirically estimated the economic cost of the Soa TaNT campaign, including financial costs and opportunity costs that will likely be borne by control programs and stakeholders in the future.

Systematic reviews as a 'lens of evidence': Determinants of benefits and harms of breast cancer screening.

This systematic review, stimulated by inconsistency in secondary evidence, reports the benefits and harms of breast cancer (BC) screening and their determinants according to systematic reviews. A systematic search, which identified 9,976 abstracts, led to the inclusion of 58 reviews. BC mortality reduction with screening mammography was 15-25% in trials and 28-56% in observational studies in all age groups, and the risk of stage III+ cancers was reduced for women older than 49 years.

Economic Analysis of Vaccination Programs: An ISPOR Good Practices for Outcomes Research Task Force Report.

This report provides recommendations for budget holders and decision makers in high-, middle, and low-income countries requiring economic analyses of new vaccination programs to allocate scarce resources given budget constraints. ISPOR's Economic Evaluation of Vaccines Designed to Prevent Infectious Disease: Good Practices Task Force wrote guidelines for three analytic methods and solicited comments on them from external reviewers. Cost-effectiveness analyses use decision-analytic models to estimate cumulative changes in resource use, costs, and changes in quality- or disability-adjusted life-years attributable to changes in disease outcomes.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Telehealth: A Comparison between Home Telemonitoring, Nurse Telephone Support, and Usual Care in Chronic Heart Failure Management.

Objectives: To assess the cost effectiveness of home telemonitoring (HTM) and nurse telephone support (NTS) compared with usual care (UC) in the management of patients with chronic heart failure, from a third-party payer's perspective.

Methods: We developed a Markov model with a 20-year time horizon to analyze the cost effectiveness using the original study (Trans-European Network-Home-Care Management System) and various data sources. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the decision uncertainty in our model.

Comparison of EQ-5D and SF-36 in untreated patients with symptoms of intermittent claudication.

Aim: To compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) descriptions and utility scores in newly diagnosed peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients, using two most widely used instruments, EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D) and Medical Outcome Study 36-item Short-Form Health Status Survey (SF-36).

Methods: Patients' self-assessment of HRQoL was measured by the Dutch versions of the EQ-5D and SF-36 in the 204 patients.

Results: Mean utility scores ranged from 0.

Integrating clinical and economic evidence in clinical guidelines: More needed than ever!

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: In recent years, several expensive new health technologies have been introduced. The availability of those technologies intensifies the discussion regarding the affordability of these technologies at different decision-making levels. On the meso level, both hospitals and clinicians are facing budget constraints resulting in a tension to balance between different patients' interests.

Socioeconomic benefit to individuals of achieving 2020 targets for four neglected tropical diseases controlled/eliminated by innovative and intensified disease management: Human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease.

Background: The control or elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has targets defined by the WHO for 2020, reinforced by the 2012 London Declaration. We estimated the economic impact to individuals of meeting these targets for human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, NTDs controlled or eliminated by innovative and intensified disease management (IDM).

Methods: A systematic literature review identified information on productivity loss and out-of-pocket payments (OPPs) related to these NTDs, which were combined with projections of the number of people suffering from each NTD, country and year for 2011-2020 and 2021-2030.

Health care input constraints and cost effectiveness analysis decision rules.

Results of cost effectiveness analyses (CEA) studies are most useful for decision makers if they face only one constraint: the health care budget. However, in practice, decision makers wishing to use the results of CEA studies may face multiple resource constraints relating to, for instance, constraints in health care inputs such as a shortage of skilled labour. The presence of multiple resource constraints influences the decision rules of CEA and limits the usefulness of traditional CEA studies for decision makers.

What are the images used to diagnose and assess suspected strokes?: A systematic literature review of care in four European countries.

Introduction: The cost-effectiveness of clinical interventions is often assessed using current care as comparator. However, evidence suggests practice variation in stroke imaging across countries. For the purpose of feeding into cost-effectiveness analysis, this research aims to describe the patterns of stroke imaging, examine practice variations across countries and, as such, obtain results reflecting current care.