BACKGROUND Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in children (IPTc) involves the administration of a full course of an anti-malarial treatment to children under 5 years old at specified time points regardless of whether or not they are known to be infected, in areas where malaria transmission is seasonal. It is important to determine the costs associated with IPTc delivery via community...

In contrast to the liquid outer core, the earth’s inner core is mostly solid, and its composition is more pure iron. Based on dynamic arguments related to the freezing process of the inner core, and the observation of much lower P-wave quality factor in the inner core (Qab450) than in the outer core (QaN10,000), it has been suggested that a mushy layer with liquid inclusions may exist at the to...

BACKGROUND Despite several leprosy control measures in Nigeria, child proportion and disability grade 2 cases remain high while new cases have not significantly reduced, suggesting continuous spread of the disease. Hence, there is the need to review detection methods to enhance identification of early cases for effective control and prevention of permanent disability. This study evaluated the c...

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of different imaging strategies for the diagnosis of pediatric intussusception using a decision analytic model. METHODS A Markov decision model was constructed to model effects of radiation exposure at the time of intussusception in a hypothetical cohort of 2-year-old children. The 2 strategies compared were ultrasound followe...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the cost effectiveness of ziprasidone versus haloperidol in sequential intramuscular (IM)/oral treatment of patients with exacerbation of schizophrenia in Spain. METHODS A cost-effectiveness analysis from the hospital perspective was performed. Length of stay, study medication and use of concomitant drugs were calculated using data from the ZIMO trial. The...

OBJECTIVES Despite the continuing interest in health economic research, we could find no accessible data set on cost-effectiveness, useful as practical information to decision makers who must allocate scarce resources within the cardiovascular field. The aim of this paper was to present cost-effectiveness ratios, based on a systematic literature search for the treatment of heart diseases. DES...

BACKGROUND The relation between methodological advances in estimation of confidence intervals (CIs) for incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) and estimation of cost effectiveness in the presence of censoring has not been explored. The authors address the joint problem of estimating ICER precision in the presence of censoring. METHODS Using patient-level data (n = 168) on cost and survi...

BACKGROUND Most economic evaluation models compare a new patented drug (NPRx) to a generic comparator. Drug costs within these models are usually limited to the retail cost of both drugs at the time of model conception. However, the retail cost of the NPRx is expected to drop once generic versions of this molecule are introduced following the expiration of the NPRx's patent. The objective of th...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the cost effectiveness, cost utility and cost benefit of a workplace intervention compared with usual care for sick-listed employees with distress. METHODS An economic evaluation was conducted alongside a randomised controlled trial. Employees with distress and who were sick-listed for 2-8 weeks were randomised to a workplace intervention (n=73) or to usual care (n=72)....

BACKGROUND To examine the cost-effectiveness of providing laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) surgery to all morbidly obese adults in the 2003 Australian population. METHODS AND FINDINGS Analyzed costs and benefits associated with two intervention scenarios, one providing LAGB surgery to individuals with BMI >40 and another to individuals with BMI >35, with each compared relative t...