Strong and graded associations between level of asthma severity and all-cause hospital care use and costs in the UK.

Background: Hospital admissions account for a large share of the healthcare costs incurred by people with asthma. We assessed the hospital care use and costs associated with asthma severity using the UK Biobank cohort and linked healthcare data.

Methods: Adult participants with asthma at recruitment were classified using their prescription data into mild and moderate-to-severe asthma and matched separately to asthma-free controls by age, sex, ethnicity and location.

Harnessing the potential of data-driven strategies to optimise transfusion practice.

No one doubts the significant variation in the practice of transfusion medicine. Common examples are the variability in transfusion thresholds and the use of tranexamic acid for surgery with likely high blood loss despite evidence-based standards. There is a long history of applying different strategies to address this variation, including education, clinical guidelines, audit and feedback, but the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these initiatives remains unclear.

Device-Measured Change in Physical Activity in Primary School Children During the UK COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: Lockdown measures, including school closures, due to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused widespread disruption to children's lives. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of a national lockdown on children's physical activity using seasonally matched accelerometry data.

Methods: Using a pre/post observational design, 179 children aged 8 to 11 years provided physical activity data measured using hip-worn triaxial accelerometers worn for 5 consecutive days prepandemic and during the January to March 2021 lockdown.

STOP-Â a training intervention to optimise treatment for smoking cessation in community pharmacies: cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Community pharmacies serve people with high levels of tobacco-related illness, but throughput in NHS Stop Smoking Services in pharmacies remains relatively low. We investigated the effectiveness of a complex intervention to increase service uptake and retention.

Methods: We randomised 60 pharmacies in England and Wales to the STOP intervention or usual practice in a pragmatic, parallel-group, controlled trial over 11 months.

Magnetic resonance enterography compared with ultrasonography in newly diagnosed and relapsing Crohn's disease patients: the METRIC diagnostic accuracy study.

Background: Magnetic resonance enterography and enteric ultrasonography are used to image Crohn's disease patients. Their diagnostic accuracy for presence, extent and activity of enteric Crohn's disease was compared.

Objective: To compare diagnostic accuracy, observer variability, acceptability, diagnostic impact and cost-effectiveness of magnetic resonance enterography and ultrasonography in newly diagnosed or relapsing Crohn's disease.

Understanding the value of social networks in life satisfaction of elderly people: a comparative study of 16 European countries using SHARE data.

Background: Networks of family and friends are a source of support and are generally associated with higher life satisfaction values among older adults. On the other hand, older adults who are satisfied with their life may be more able to develop and maintain a wider social network. For this reason, the causal link between size and composition of the social networks and satisfaction with life is yet to be explored.

A review of economic evaluation models for cardiac resynchronization therapy with implantable cardioverter defibrillators in patients with heart failure.

Objectives: Cardiac resynchronization therapy with a biventricular pacemaker (CRT-P) is an effective treatment for dyssynchronous heart failure (DHF). Adding an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (CRT-D) may further reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). However, if the majority of patients do not require shock therapy, the cost-effectiveness ratio of CRT-D compared to CRT-P may be high.

Informal care and gifts to and from older people in Europe: The interlinks between giving and receiving.

Background: Transfers of money and help with daily activities by family and friends are important sources of support for older people and contribute to their well being. On the other hand, older adults are not only recipients of support but also important providers of support and financial transfers as giving and receiving are often reciprocal. For this, it is important to understand the determinants of receiving and giving money and help as well as the relationship between these two.

Abiraterone Acetate for the Treatment of Chemotherapy-Naïve Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: An Evidence Review Group Perspective of an NICE Single Technology Appraisal.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) invited Janssen, the company manufacturing abiraterone acetate (AA; tradename Zytiga), to submit evidence for the clinical and cost effectiveness of AA in combination with prednisone/prednisolone (AAP) compared with watchful waiting (i.e. best supportive care [BSC]) for chemotherapy-naïve patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Procalcitonin testing to guide antibiotic therapy for the treatment of sepsis in intensive care settings and for suspected bacterial infection in emergency department settings: a systematic review and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Background: Determination of the presence or absence of bacterial infection is important to guide appropriate therapy and reduce antibiotic exposure. Procalcitonin (PCT) is an inflammatory marker that has been suggested as a marker for bacterial infection.

Objectives: To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adding PCT testing to the information used to guide antibiotic therapy in adults and children (1) with confirmed or highly suspected sepsis in intensive care and (2) presenting to the emergency department (ED) with suspected bacterial infection.

Rapid fetal fibronectin testing to predict preterm birth in women with symptoms of premature labour: a systematic review and cost analysis.

Background: Premature birth is defined as birth of before 37 completed weeks' gestation. Not all pregnant women showing symptoms of preterm labour will go on to deliver before 37 weeks' gestation. Hence, addition of fetal fibronectin (fFN) testing to the diagnostic workup of women with suspected preterm labour may help to identify those women who do not require active management, and thus avoid unnecessary interventions, hospitalisations and associated costs.

Golimumab for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: a NICE single technology appraisal.

As part of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) single technology appraisal (STA) process, the Evidence Review Group (ERG) produced a report to comment on the clinical and cost effectiveness of golimumab (Simponi(®), Merck Sharp & Dohme) for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) relative to other comparators as presented in the manufacturer's submission (MS) to NICE. The population was those with active disease who had not responded to conventional therapy. The specified comparators were conventional care and two other tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors (adalimumab and etanercept).

Cost-effectiveness of a specialized atrial fibrillation clinic vs. usual care in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Aims: A recent randomized controlled trial demonstrated significant reductions in cardiovascular hospitalizations and deaths with a nurse-led integrated chronic care approach in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with usual care. The aim of the present study is to assess cost-effectiveness of this nurse-led care programme vs. usual care.

Catastrophic and impoverishing effects of out-of-pocket payments for health care in Albania: evidence from Albania Living Standards Measurement Surveys 2002, 2005 and 2008.

The absence of or poorly functioning risk pooling mechanisms and high amounts of out-of-pocket payments for health care expose households to financial risks associated with major illnesses or accidents. The aim of this article is to analyse the extent to which out-of-pocket health spending impoverishes households in Albania. The study augments existing evidence by analysing the dynamics of such payments over different years and the weight that informal payments have in the total out-of-pocket health spending.