BACKGROUND In spite of the important progress made in the abortive treatment of acute migraine episodes since the introduction of triptans, reduction of pain and associated symptoms is in many cases still not as effective nor as fast as would be desirable. Recent research pays more attention to the timing of the treatment, and taking triptans early in the course of an attack when pain is still ...

BACKGROUND The Ministry of Health in Malawi is implementing a pragmatic and innovative approach for the management of all HIV-infected pregnant women, termed Option B+, which consists of providing life-long antiretroviral treatment, regardless of their CD4 count or clinical stage. Our objective was to determine if Option B+ represents a cost-effective option. METHODS A decision model simulate...

Most studies of the cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination show very favorable cost-effectiveness ratios for preventing pneumococcal pneumonia, but they make the controversial assumption that vaccination is equally effective in preventing bacteremic (BPP) and nonbacteremic (NBPP) pneumonia. However, the results of our study showed that, compared with preventing BPP alone, the cost-effec...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the cost-effectiveness of ipilimumab (3 mg/kg) compared with best supportive care (BSC) in pre-treated advanced melanoma patients. METHODS The analysis was based on a US payer perspective and lifetime time horizon. A three-state Markov model was developed representing clinical outcomes, quality-of-life, and healthcare resource use of patients treated with ipilimumab and ...

BACKGROUND The failure to recognize occupational health as an economic phenomenon limits the effectiveness of interventions ostensibly designed to prevent disease and injury. Hence, consideration of economic efficiency is essential in the evaluations of interventions to reduce hazardous working conditions. In this paper, we present an analysis of the cost effectiveness of alternative means of p...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of universal mass vaccination (UMV) against influenza compared with a targeted vaccine program (TVP) for selected age and risk groups in the United States. METHODS We modeled costs and outcomes of seasonal influenza with UMV and TVP, taking a societal perspective. The US population was stratified to model age-specific (< 5, 5-17, 18-49, 50-64, an...

OBJECTIVES This study presents a cost-effectiveness analysis comparing hydrophilic coated to uncoated catheters for patients performing urinary intermittent catheterisation. A national budget impact analysis is also included to evaluate the impact of intermittent catheterisation for management of bladder dysfunctions over a period of 5 years. DESIGN A Markov model (lifetime horizon, 1 year cy...

BACKGROUND Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has been proposed in the United States as a way to compare new drugs and technologies with established alternatives and determine not just whether a therapy works, but how well it works compared to other options. OBJECTIVES To define the current use of CER in the development of new drugs and technologies and explore what is needed for this r...