BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to estimate utility values for alternative treatment intervals for long acting antipsychotic intramuscular injections for the treatment of schizophrenia. METHODS Vignettes were developed using the published literature and an iterative consultation process with expert clinicians and patient representative groups. Four vignettes were developed. The first was...

Country risk has recently become a topic of major concern for the international financial community. A critical assessment of country risk is essential because it reflects the ability and willingness of a country to service its financial obligations. Various risk rating agencies employ different methods to determine country risk ratings, combining a range of qualitative and quantitative informa...

BackgroundThere are increasing concerns about the appropriateness of generic preference-based measures to capture health benefits in area mental health.ObjectivesThe aim this study is estimate preference weights for a new measure, Recovering Quality Life (ReQoL-10), better healthcare.MethodsPsychometric analyses larger sample service users (n = 4266) using confirmatory factor and item response ...

This paper presents a new approach to the architecture optimization of a general 3-PUU translational parallel manipulator (TPM) based on the performance of a weighted sum of global dexterity index and a new performance index-space utility ratio (SUR). Both the inverse kinematics and forward kinematics solutions are derived in closed form, and the Jacobian matrix is derived analytically. The man...

BACKGROUND Societal decision makers increasingly emphasise their need for evidence based economic analyses to make reimbursement decisions. OBJECTIVE To analyse the cost utility of adalimumab, on both incremental cost and incremental quality adjusted life years (QALYs), versus traditional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs and the other tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists suitable for...

Background: Societal decision makers increasingly emphasise their need for evidence based economic analyses to make reimbursement decisions. Objective: To analyse the cost utility of adalimumab, on both incremental cost and incremental quality adjusted life years (QALYs), versus traditional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs and the other tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists suitable for...

OBJECTIVE To examine the merits of the Asthma Therapy Assessment Questionnaire (ATAQ) control index together with prior asthma health-care utilization from administrative data in predicting future acute asthma health-care utilization. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. POPULATION A total of 4,788 adult asthma patients aged 17 to 93 years who completed a baseline evaluation and had at least 6 ...

INTRODUCTION Measures of socioeconomic position (SEP) are widely used in health research. AIM To provide future researchers with empirically based guidance about the relative utility of five measures of SEP in predicting health outcomes. METHODS Data from 12,488 adults were obtained from the 2006 New Zealand Health Survey. Seven health-related outcome measures with expected variations by SE...