Early intervention with budesonide is an effective strategy for mild persistent asthma, which has been shown to provide additional clinical benefits at a low incremental cost using USA cost data. The present authors analysed whether this strategy would be cost-effective using cost data for other countries. Based on the 3-yr prospective, randomised, double-blind inhaled Steroid Treatment As Regu...

A single vacuum tube based solar cooker has high energy and exergy efficiency, and is capable of achieving cooking temperatures as high as 250 C. The reason for high energy and exergy efficiencies of this solar cooker is the high achievable concentration ratios of 15e20, which are not possible with multiple vacuum tube based solar cookers. In this paper, a comparative study has been carried out...

Objective To assess the association between different types of organisation and the results from economic evaluations. Design Retrospective pairwise comparison of evidence submitted to the technology appraisal programme of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) by manufacturers of the relevant healthcare technologies and by contracted university based assessment groups. Data sour...

OBJECTIVES To develop a methodology for integrating social networks into traditional cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) studies. This will facilitate the economic evaluation of treatment policies in settings where health outcomes are subject to social influence. DESIGN This is a simulation study based on a Markov model. The lifetime health histories of a cohort are simulated, and health outcom...

OBJECTIVE Schizophrenia is a highly disabling disease and is costly to treat. We set out to establish what are the most cost-effective interventions applicable to developing regions and countries. METHODS Analysis was undertaken at the level of three WHO subregions spanning the Americas, Africa and South-East Asia, and subsequently in three member states (Chile, Nigeria and Sri Lanka). A stat...

There is a growing conviction among policy-makers that the availability of adequate numbers of well-trained and motivated human resources is a key determinant of health system' s capacity to achieve their health, responsiveness and fairness-improving goals. The objective of this study was to estimate the cost, effectiveness and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of various distance-education...

BACKGROUND Many guidelines recommend screening mammography every 1-2 years for women older than 40 years; more than 70% of women now participate in routine screening. No studies have examined the societal impact of screening practices over the past decade in the United States on costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). We performed a retrospective cost-effectiveness analysis comparing act...

In this study, the cost-effectiveness of three indicated anxiety prevention strategies was examined from a societal perspective. Children (aged 8-12) were recruited via primary schools, selecting children scoring as high-anxious on an anxiety screening questionnaire. Participating children and their parents were randomized to a child--a parent-focused, or non-intervention group. All groups comp...

BACKGROUND This study aimed at providing information for priority setting in the health care sector of Zimbabwe as well as assessing the efficiency of resource use. A general approach proposed by the World Bank involving the estimation of the burden of disease measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and calculation of cost-effectiveness ratios for a large number of health interventio...

We experimentally demonstrate an ultra high Q/V nanocavity on SOI substrate. The design is based on modal adaptation within the cavity and allows to measure a quality factor of 58.000 for a modal volume of 0.6(lambda/n)(3) . This record Q/V value of 10(5) achieved for a structure standing on a physical substrate, rather than on membrane, is in very good agreement with theoretical predictions al...