Commentary: Will academia embrace comparative effectiveness research?

Endocrine disrupting chemicals and the growth of environmental health in Israel

This commentary addresses the article by Berman, et al. on reproductive health trends in Israel potentially related to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and on associated health policy decisions in Israel to prevent long-term effects from exposure to EDCs. There are intensive, ongoing research efforts in the US that will provide additional guidance on this issue in the future. The commentar...

Comparative effectiveness research: does one size fit all?

In this commentary, we argue that although randomization has many benefits, not all questions we seek to answer fit into a randomized setting. Our argument utilizes the clinical setting of carotid atherosclerosis management where specific clinical questions are answered by using a variety of comparative effectiveness designs. Observational studies should not be ruled out when designing studies ...

Commentary: Electronic health records for comparative effectiveness research.

Comparative Effectiveness Research in Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Comparative-effectiveness research (CER) is a hot topic. There are several definitions for CER, but the Institute ofMedicine defines CER as “the generation and synthesis of evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative methods to prevent, diagnose, treat andmonitor a clinical condition or to improve the delivery of care” [1]. Comparative-effectiveness research focuses more on eff...

Retaining, and enhancing, the QALY.

For economic and policy analyses requiring a summary health outcome measure that integrates quantity-of-life and quality-oflife impacts, the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) has been widely recognized and endorsed [1–3]. The US Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine recommended the QALY for “reference case” analyses [2]. The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ...