Cost Effectiveness of Catheter Ablation Versus Antiarrhythmic Drugs for Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Current international guidelines recommend antiarrhythmic drugs or catheter ablation (CA) as rhythm-control strategies for AF. This study aimed to comprehensively assess economic evaluations (EEs) of the treatment of AF by country income level.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on time to treatment, treatment patterns and outcomes among patients with acute coronary syndrome in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia with respect to time to treatment, treatment pattern and treatment outcome.

Design: This is a retrospective cohort study in which medical records of hospitalised patients with ACS were reviewed.

Setting: Three hospitals in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Economic evaluation of diagnosis and treatment for latent tuberculosis infection among contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Thailand.

Currently, interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) is costly and not included as latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening test strategy in Thailand's Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) benefit package. The objective of this study was to assess the cost-utility of LTBI screening strategies among tuberculosis (TB) contacts in Thailand. A hybrid decision tree and Markov model was developed to compare the lifetime costs and health outcomes of tuberculin skin test (TST) and IGRA, in comparison to no screening, based on a societal perspective.

Cost-utility and budget impact analysis of neoadjuvant dual HER2 targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer in Sri Lanka.

This study aimed to assess the cost-utility and budget impact of dual to single HER2 targeted neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer in Sri Lanka. A five-health state Markov model with lifetime horizon was used to assess the cost-utility of neoadjuvant trastuzumab (T) plus pertuzumab (P) or lapatinib (L) compared to single therapy of T with chemotherapy (C), in public healthcare system and societal perspectives. Input parameters were estimated using local data, network meta-analysis, published reports and literature.

Catastrophic costs incurred by tuberculosis affected households from Thailand's first national tuberculosis patient cost survey.

Tuberculosis (TB) causes an economic impact on the patients and their households. Although Thailand has expanded the national health benefit package for TB treatment, there was no data on out-of-pocket payments and income losses due to TB from patients and their household perspectives. This national TB patient cost survey was conducted to examine the TB-related economic burden, and assess the proportion of TB patients and their households facing catastrophic total costs because of TB disease.

Treatment seeking experiences of ACS patients in Yogyakarta, Indonesia during COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

Delay in treatment seeking is recognized as a major contributor for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) mortality in Indonesia. Despite the significance of timely treatment, decline in admission and delay in presentation of patients with ACS were consistently reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. These suggested that treatment seeking performance of patients during the pandemic might be different from the previous period.

Systematic review of the impact of health care expenditure on health outcome measures: implications for cost-effectiveness thresholds.

Objective: Empirical estimates of the impact of healthcare expenditure on health outcome measures may inform the cost-effectiveness threshold (CET) for guiding funding decisions. This study aims to systematically review studies that estimated this, summarize and compare the estimates by country income level.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Scopus, York Research database, and [anonymized] for Reviews and Dissemination database from inception to 1 August 2023.

Economic costs of alcohol consumption in Thailand, 2021.

Background: Alcohol is one of the leading risk factors contributing to avoidable economic loss worldwide. Estimates from the economic cost of alcohol consumption studies play an important role in prioritizing healthcare resource use, supporting policy decisions, and justifying budgets for alcohol policy. This study aimed to estimate the economic burden associated with alcohol consumption in Thailand in 2021.

Rituximab for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in Thailand: an economic evaluation and budget impact analysis.

Background: Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelination process in the central nervous system (CNS) causing neurological disability and poor quality of life. Currently, Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved disease-modifying therapy is costly, and most patients with multiple sclerosis are ineligible for treatment in Thailand as previous studies have challenged its cost-effectiveness. Off-label use of rituximab is inexpensive and highly effective in treating multiple sclerosis, but evidence of its cost-effectiveness in Thailand is yet to be collected.

The use of cost-effectiveness analysis for health benefit package design - should countries follow a sectoral, incremental or hybrid approach?

Background: Countries around the world are increasingly rethinking the design of their health benefit package to achieve universal health coverage. Countries can periodically revise their packages on the basis of sectoral cost-effectiveness analyses, i.e.

Efficacy of anti-tuberculosis drugs for the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Despite the availability of three network meta-analyses (NMA) examining the efficacy, treatment completion, and adverse events associated with all latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) treatments, there is currently no evidence to support the notion that the benefits of these treatments outweigh the potential risks. This NMA aimed to conduct a comprehensive comparison and update of the efficacy, treatment completion rates and adverse events associated with recommended treatment options for LTBI for individuals with confirmed LTBI, as outlined in the 2020 World Health Organization (WHO) Consolidated Guidelines for TB preventive treatment. A comprehensive search of the MEDLINE and Scopus databases was conducted until April 2023.

Thai stakeholders' awareness and perceptions of the patient adverse event reporting system for herbal medicines: a qualitative study.

Background: In Thailand, the consumption of herbal medicines has been increasing. Adverse events (AEs) of herbal medicines have been identified through the spontaneous reporting system. However, the number of patients reporting AEs of herbal medicines remains limited.

Potential changes in vaccine access and policy landscape in Thailand post COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on society, but little is known about how the pandemic affects the vaccine policy landscape and public perception of vaccines in Thailand. This study aims to describe potential changes in Thailand's policy landscape post-pandemic. We performed a literature review and in-depth interviews with 12 key informants to understand the policy landscape in Thailand.

Cost-Utility Analysis of Community Case Management for Malaria Control in Burundi.

Background: The community case management (CCM) program for malaria control is a community-based strategy implemented to regulate malaria in children in Burundi. This study compared the cost and utility of implementing the CCM program combined with health facility management (HFM) versus HFM alone for malaria control in children under five in Burundi.

Methods: This study constructed a five-year Markov model with one-week cycles to estimate cost-utility and budget impact analysis (BIA).

Does the Choice of Health Metric, DALY or QALY, Influence Conclusions of Health Economic Evaluation? A Case Study of Rotavirus Vaccine in Burundi.

Background: Two metrics, quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) and disability-adjusted life-year (DALY), have been commonly used to measure health benefits associated with health interventions. This study aimed to explore the effect of the choice of health metric (DALY or QALY) on economic evaluation conclusion.

Methods: A previous published model for a cost-utility analysis (CUA) of rotavirus vaccine was adapted to estimate the QALYs gained and DALYs averted from four rotavirus vaccines: Rotarix, RotaTeq, Rotavac, and Rotasiil.

Comparison of Patient Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems in Nine Selected Countries.

Patients are recognized as important players in the pharmacovigilance system. This study aims to describe and compare the characteristics of patient reporting systems, reporting forms, awareness raising-activities, and the statistics related to patient reporting in the selected countries. Fifteen countries (eight Western countries and seven Asian countries) were purposively selected.

Priority setting of vaccine introduction in Bangladesh: a multicriteria decision analysis study.

Objective: To prioritise vaccines for introduction in Bangladesh.

Methods: Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) process was used to prioritise potential vaccines for introduction in Bangladesh. A set of criteria were identified, weighted and assigned scores by relevant stakeholders (n=14) during workshop A.

Neoadjuvant Treatment with HER2-Targeted Therapies in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

Unlabelled: This systematic review aimed to identify neoadjuvant anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapies with the best balance between efficacy and safety.

Methods: A network meta-analysis was applied to estimate the risk ratios along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for pathological complete response (pCR) and serious adverse events (SAE). A mixed-effect parametric survival analysis was conducted to assess the disease-free survival (DFS) between treatments.

How Economic Analysis Increases the Awareness of Clinical Services: A Case of Diabetes Mellitus at a Teaching Hospital in Myanmar.

Objectives: Myanmar faces a growing epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which has significant impact on the individual health and health service system; nevertheless, reliable cost estimate for treating diabetes is still unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the treatment cost of hospitalization by type 2 diabetes mellitus and the association of complications and comorbidities with the treatment cost.

Methods: The retrospective incidence-based cost of illness analysis was performed at the diabetes ward of 800-bed teaching hospital in Yangon, Myanmar.

Cost-Utility Analysis of Dapagliflozin Compared to Sulfonylureas for Type 2 Diabetes as Second-Line Treatment in Indian Healthcare Payer's Perspective.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a leading health issue, causing economic burden in India. Pharmacotherapy is a major cost driver in diabetic care usually funded through out of pocket expenditure; however, there has been a very limited economic evaluation evidence to guide the choice of diabetes pharmacotherapy in India. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the long-term cost-effectiveness of dapagliflozin (sodium glucose transporter 2 inhibitor) compared to commonly used sulfonylureas as second-line drugs in Indian patients with T2DM.

Economic evaluation of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) versus vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To assess cost-effectiveness of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) compared with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) by pooling incremental net benefits (INBs).

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Setting: We searched PubMed, Scopus and Centre for Evaluation of Value and Risks in Health Registry from inception to December 2019.